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BR  786  .C43  H34 
Chalmers,  Thomas 
A  selection  from  the 
correspondence  of  the  late 


i^m" 


Ik 


A  SELECTION 


THE  CORRESPONDENCE 


op    THE    LATE 


THOMAS  CHALMERS,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


EDITED    BY    HIS     SON-IN-LAW, 

THE   REV.  WILLIAM   HANNA,  LL.D. 


NEW    YORK  : 
HARPER  &    BROTHERS,  PUBLISHERS, 

329    &    331     PFAIII.    STREET. 
FHANKLIN     SQUARE. 

1853. 


CONTENTS. 


No  Page 

1.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mr.  James  Anderson 1 

2.  Mr.  James  Anderson  to  Dr.  Chalmers 3 

3.  Mr.  James  Anderson  to  Dr.  Chalmers 5 

4.  Mr.  James  Anderson  to  Dr.  Chalmers 8 

5.  Mr.  Thomas  Smith  to  Dr.  Chalmers 10 

6.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mr.  Thomas  Smith 11 

7.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mr.  Thomas  Smith 14 

8.  Mr.  Thomas  Smith  to  Dr.  Chalmers 15 

9.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mr.  Thomas  Smith 17 

10.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mr.  Thomas  Smith 18 

1 1 .  Mr.  Thomas  Smith  to  Dr.  Chalmers 19 

12.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mr.  Thomas  Smith 20 

13.  Mr.  Thomas  Smith  to  Dr.  Chalmers 22 

14.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mr.  Thomas  Smith 22 

15.  Mr.  Thomas  Smith  to  Dr.  Chalmers 24 

16.  Mr.  Thomas  Smith  to  Dr.  Chalmers 25 

17.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mr.  Thomas  Smith 27 

18.  Mr.  Thomas  Smith  to  Dr.  Chalmers 28 

19.  Mr.  Thomas  Smith  to  Dr.  Chalmers 30 

20.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mr.  Thomas  Smith 31 

21.  Mr.  Thomas  Smith  to  Dr.  Chalmers 33 

22.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mr.  Thomas  Smith 34 

23.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mr.  Thomas  Smith 37 

24.  Mr.  Thomas  Smith  to  Dr.  Chalmers 39 

25.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mr.  Thomas  Smith 40 

26.  Mr.  Thomas  Smith  to  Dr.  Chalmers 41 

27.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mr.  Thomas  Smith 43 

28.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mrs.  Kedie  46 

29.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  the  Misses  Kedie 47 

30.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mrs.  Kedie 50 

31-36.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mr.  Kedie 51-55 

37^1.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  the  Kev.  Dr.  Jones,  of  Edmburgh 55-61 


viii  CONTENTS. 


No.  Page 

42-55.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mrs.  Coutts 61-80 

56-60.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Miss  CoUier 81-87 

61-70.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  William  Wilberforce,  Esq.,  M.P 87-101 

71-88.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mrs.  Glasgow,  of  Mountgreenan  ..   101-123 

89.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mrs.  Dunlop 123 

90-121.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mrs.  Parker 125-147 

122-129.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mrs.  Darroch 147-156 

130.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  General  Darroch 156 

131.  Dr.  Chahners  to  General  Darroch 158 

132.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Dr.  Rainy,  of  Glasgow 159 

133.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Dr.  Rainy,  of  Glasgow 161 

134.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mrs.  Brown 161 

135-140.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mr.  Robert  Brown 164-171 

141-144.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mr.  Patrick  Chalmers 171-176 

145-208.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mrs.  Morton 176-234 

209.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Watson 234 

210.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Watson 236 

211.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mr.  Fortune 237 

212-216.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mrs.  Watson 237-245 

217.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mr.  William  Fortune 245 

218.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Honey 248 

219.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  the  Secretaries  of  the  Fife  and  Kinross  Bi- 

ble Society 250 

220-222.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Charters,  of  Wilton  256-259 

223.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  W.  Roger,  Esq.,  of  Glasgow. 259 

224-227.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  the  Rev.  J.  W.  Cunningham,  of  Har- 
row, London 261-268 

228.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Wright,  of  Stirling 268 

229-231.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Smyth,  of  Glasgow.  269-272 
232-236.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Macfarlan,  of  Green- 
ock     272-277 

237.  Dr.  Chalmers  in  reply  to  a  Letter  requesting  some  Direc- 

tions on  the  subject  of  Practical  Charity 277 

238.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  a  Friend 279 

239.  Dr.  Chalmers  on  Man's  Responsibility  for  his  Belief 279 

240.  Dr.  Chalmers's  Directions  to  an  Anxious  Inquirer 281 

241.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  the  Countess  of  D .    A  Letter  of  Chris- 

tian Encouragement 283 

242.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Lady  Osborne 285 

243.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  his  eldest  Daughter,  on  partaking  for  the 

first  time  of  the  Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper 287 

244.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Master  J.  Morton 289 


CONTENTS. 


No.  Page 

245.  Dr.  Chalmers's  Advice  to  a  Young  Clergyman 290 

246.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mrs.  Grant,  of  Laggan 292 

247-249.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  T.  Erskine,  Esq.,  of  Linlathen...  293-297 

250.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  the  Rev.  John  Foster 298 

251 .  Dr.  Chalmers  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Ryland 300 

252.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mr.  J.  E.  Ryland 301 

253.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mr.  J.  E.  Ryland 301 

254.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mrs.  Paul 302 

255.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  the  Rev.  C.  Bridges 303 

256.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  the  Re  v.  C.  Bridges 304 

257.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  the  Rev.  Horace  Bonar , 305 

258-260.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Dr.  James  Brown 307-309 

261.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mrs.  Brown 310 

262.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Harvey 311 

263.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mr.  John  Sheppard 312 

264.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mr.  John  Sheppard 313 

265.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Dr.  Symington 314 

266.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  the  Rev.  Thomas  Bartlett 315 

267.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  the  Rev.  Samuel  Miller 318 

268-271.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  the  Rev.  Thomas  Grinfield,  Clifton  319-321 

272.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  the  Rev.  Henry  Bell 321 

273.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  the  Rev.  Henry  Bell 321 

274.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  the  Rev.  Timothy  East,  Birmingham 322 

275.  Dr.  Chahners  to  the  Rev.  Ebenezer  Brown,  of  Inverkeith- 

ing,  Fife 323 

276-278.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  the  Countess  of  Elgin 325-327 

279.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Lady  Matilda  Maxwell 327 

280.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Lady  Carnegie 328 

281.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Lady  O'Brien 330 

282.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Lady  O'Brien 332 

283.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Sir  Andrew  Agnew,  Bart. 333 

284.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mr.  Thomas  Walker,  Flesher,  Galashiels.  337 

285.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Strachan,  Bishop  of  Toronto.  338 
286-289.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Professor  Duncan 340-343 

290.  Dr.  Easton  to  Dr.  Chalmers 343 

291.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Dr.  Easton 345 

292.  Dr.  Easton  to  Dr.  Chahners 347 

293.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Dr.  Easton 348 

CORRESPONDENCE    ON  THE   CHURCH   QUESTION. 

294.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  John  Hamilton,  Esq 349 

295.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  John  Hamilton,  Esq 351 


CONTENTS. 


No-  Page 

296-299.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Sir  George  Sinclair 353-356 

300.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  the  Bishop  of  LlandafF 356 

301.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  the  Bishop  of  Llandaff 357 

302.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  the  Honorable  and  Rev.  Dr.  Wellesley 358 

303-305.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Lord  Lome 359-373 

306.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  William  Lamont,  Jun.,  Esq.,  Glasgow 373 

307.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Alexander  Campbell,  Esq.,  M.P 374 

308.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  John  C.  Colquhoun,  Esq 375 

309-312.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Alexander  Gordon,  Esq.,  London  376-3S1 

313.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Rev. 385 

314.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  the  Same 386 

315.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Andrew  Johnston,  Esq 387 

316.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Andrew  Johnston,  Esq. 388 

317.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  the  Rev.  William  Findlater 390 

318.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Professor  Sedgwick,  of  Cambridge 391 

319.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  D.  Maitland  Makgill  Crichton,  Esq 395 

320.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  D.  Maitland  Makgill  Crichton,  Esq 396 

321.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  George  Yule,  Esq 396 

322.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Captain  Burnett,  of  Monboddo 397 

323.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Captain  Burnett,  of  Monboddo 399 

324.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  the  Rev.  P.  Henderson,  Pollockshaws  ....   399 

325.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Sir  George  Sinclair 401 

326-338.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mr.  Lenox,  of  New  York 402-415 

339.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Dr.  D.  Stebbins,  Northampton,  Mass 415 

340-343    Dr.  Chalmers  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Merle  d'Aubigne  ...  417-420 

344.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Miss  Brewster 420 

345.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Miss  Brewster 42i 

346.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mrs.  Williamson 42i 

347.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Miss  Marshall,  Glasgow 422 

348-350.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Charles  Spence,  Esq 423-427 

35L  Dr.  Chalmers  to  M.  Descombaz,  Lausanne 427 

^52.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mr.  John  Craig 430 

853.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  J.  Barclay,  Esq.,  Tongue [  430 

354.  Dr.  Chalmers  to 431 

355.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Rev.  Dhanjibhaf  Nowroji "...".."."."  432 

356.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Miss  Mackean "  434 

357.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  the  Rev.  Alexander  Anderson,  Aberdeen. .  434 

358.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Sir  Harry  Verney 435 

359.  Dr.  Chalmers  on  visiting  a  Family  in  which  a  suddenDeath 

had  occurred 4.},- 

360.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mrs.  M'Corquodale .".".".". . . ..."'""   437 

861.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mrs.  M'Corquodale ........'..!  438 


CONTENTS. 


No.  p^ 

362.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Miss  M'Corquodale 435^ 

363.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Miss  M'Corquodale 441 

364.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mrs.  Rutherford,  of  Edgerstone 443 

365.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mrs.  Usher 443 

366.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mrs.  Henry  Wood,  Edinburgh 444 

367.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  William  Buchanan,  Esq.,  Glasgow 445 

368.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  William  Buchanan,  Esq.,  Glasgow 446 

369.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mrs.  Campbell 448 

370.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Miss  Young,  Burntisland 449 

371.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Miss  Young 449 

372.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Charles  Cowan,  Esq 451 

373.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Somerville,  of  Drummelzier  .  451 

374.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Dr.  Somerville 452 

375.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Miss  Somerville 453 

376.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mrs.  Charles  Nairne 454 

377.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Dr.  Begbie 455 

378.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mrs.  M'Clelland "  456 

379.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mrs.  Bryce,  Aberdour 457 

380.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Miss  Burns 458 

381.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mrs.  Elliot 459 

382.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mrs.  Anderson 461 

383.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Miss  Abercrombie 462 

384.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mrs.  Mackay 464 

385.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  James  Cunningham,  Esq.,  Edinburgh 466 

386.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Frederick  Adamson,  Esq 467 

387.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Misses  Wallace 470 

388.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Miss  Wood 471 

389-410.  Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mrs.  Keith  Dunlop 473-504 


CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DU.  CHALMERS. 


[So  great  an  interest  has  been  expressed  in  Dr.  Chalmers's  Corre- 
spondence with  ]\Ir.  James  Anderson  and  Mr.  Thomas  Smith,  that  we 
commence  this  volume  by  completing  that  Correspondence.  Dr.  Chal- 
mers's answers  to  Mr.  Anderson's  last  letters  unfortunately  have  not 
been  preserved,  but  these  letters  appeared  to  have  merit  enough  of  their 
own  to  warrant  their  insertion.] 

No.  I. — Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mr.  James  Anderson. 

KiLMANY  Manse,  22d  February,  1812. 

My  DEAR  Sir — It  grieves  me  to  disappoint  the  hopes  I  had 
myself  raised,  but  the  truth  is,  that  I  overrated  my  strength 
when  I  last  wrote  you.  I  was  very  much  fatigued  on  the 
night  of  my  arrival,  but  expected  to  be  quite  fresh  and  active 
next  day  ;  instead  of  which  I  felt  myself  quite  powerless  and 
exhausted,  and  am  still  in  a  very  useless  state.  I  am  too  well 
aware  of  the  effects  of  a  Sunday's  exertions  upon  me  to  think, 
in  these  circumstances,  of  attempting  Dundee  on  Monday  at 
all. 

I  regret  it  the  less,  that  I  find  you  have  every  prospect  of 
matters  going  on  as  they  should  do.  Had  I  been  in  possession 
of  the  requisite  strength,  I  meant  to  prepare  myself  for  resist- 
ing the  proposal  of  a  Scottish  Bible  Society,  in  case  it  had  been 
made  by  Dr.  Nichol  or  others.  Be  strong,  I  beseech  you,  on 
this  head.  When  I  meet  you  I  will  go  over  the  mystery  of 
this  society  at  greater  length.  In  the  mean  time,  it  may  well 
be  illustrated  by  the  following  comparison  : 

Suppose  the  town  of  Dundee  to  be  in  want  of  water,  and  a 
general  subscription  proposed  for  bringing  it  in  pipes  from  a 
good  and  copious  spring  at  a  distance.  Each  individual  sub- 
scription tells  for  the  benefit  of  the  whole.  Some  inferior 
spring  is  discovered  in  the  Seagate,  which  can  only  supply 

A 


2  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

half  the  street,  with  water  of  less  value  than  the  former,  and 
at  a  superior  expense  to  the  individuals  benefited.  An  asso- 
ciation in  the  Seagate  for  digging  wells  would  not  be  more 
ridiculous  than  a  Scottish  Bible  Society.  It  would  injure  the 
general  subscription,  and  thereby  affect  the  interest  of  the 
whole  town.  And  this  unlucky  diversion  would  be  found  to 
carry  along  with  it  more  expense  and  less  benefit  to  the  very 
promoters  of  it.  When  I  say  that  a  separate  society  must 
produce  an  inferior  article,  I  am  quite  correct.  The  power  of 
capital  multiplies  beyond  its  own  rate  of  increase.  X20,000 
a  year  can  effect  more  than  twenty  times  what  £1000  a  year 
can  effect.  And  think  of  the  privilege  which  the  London  So- 
ciety has  of  working  off  Bibles  at  a  University  press.  This 
explains  the  cheap  rate  at  which  they  can  afford  Bibles. 

There  is  one  circumstance  which  should  never  be  forgotten 
in  the  administration  of  your  society.  You  may  overdo  the 
supply  of  home  objects — this  is  the  great  mischief  to  be  ap- 
prehended from  the  Scottish.  To  prove  its  utility,  it  must  do 
something  ;  and  to  manifest  its  importance,  it  will  make  that 
something  as  much  as  possible.  The  peasants  of  Scotland 
purchase  Bibles  for  themselves.  This  is  too  fine  a  habit  to 
be  repressed  or  tampered  with.  Our  people  think  a  Bible 
worthy  of  its  price.  They  should  be  left  to  make  the  sacri- 
fice. It  endears  the  Bible  more  to  them.  And  you  may  con- 
ceive the  mischief  that  must  accrue  from  an  officious  society 
substituting  its  own  bounty,  and  issuing  Bibles  from  their  pub- 
lic repository  in  the  same  business  style  that  they  would  dis- 
tribute soup,  or  shoes,  or  greatcoats,  or  breeches.  The  auxil- 
iary societies  in  England  often  detain  one  half  for  home  ob- 
jects. But  remember  that  in  England  the  habit  is  yet  to 
form.  In  Scotland  the  habit  is  formed  already  ;  and  to  do 
any  thing  which  can  trench  upon  this  habit  would  be  to  do 
an  incalculable  mischief  If  the  man  who,  at  this  moment, 
depends  upon  himself  for  a  Bible,  and  actually  buys  one,  is  led 
by  the  indiscreet  administration  of  your  funds  to  depend  upon 
the  society,  what  becomes  of  that  man  when  this  dependence 


MR.  JAMES  ANDERSON.  3 

fails  him  ?  He  has  lost  the  habit  of  purchasing  for  himself- 
and  the  security  that  Bibles  shall  be  read,  and  possessed,  and 
valued  by  our  people,  is  transferred  from  the  deeply-seated 
principles  of  their  own  hearts  to  the  precarious  exertions  of  a 
society  irregular  in  its  movements  and  uncertain  in  its  dura- 
tion. Send  as  much  as  possible  to  the  London  Society  ;  avail 
yourselves  as  little  of  your  privilege  as  auxiliary  societies  as  is 
absolutely  necessary. 

Yours  truly,  Thomas  Chal:\;ers. 

No.  II. — Mr.  James  Anderson  to  Dr.  Chalmers. 

Dundee,  11th  June,  1812. 
My  dear  Sir — I  am  ashamed  I  have  been  so  long  in  ac- 
knowledging your  kindness  at  Kilmany,  and  the  happiness  I 
enjoyed  under  your  roof  Could  I  maintain  the  impressions 
I  there  received,  I  would  deem  my  Christian  course  rapidly 
progressive  ;  but  I  am  here  in  a  widely  different  scene — little 
favorable  to  sober  thinking.  My  mind,  distracted  with  the 
bustle  and  cold-heartedness  of  business,  recurs  with  difficulty 
to  the  contemplations  of  religion  ;  and  the  want  of  a  friend 
with  whom  I  can  communicate  on  these  subjects  deprives  me 
of  that  excitement  which  is  the  life  of  every  pursuit.  I,  how- 
ever, feel  myself  much  more  decidedly  attached  to  Christian- 
ity, and  I  hope,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  to  attain  the  stability 
of  a  true  disciple  of  Jesus.  I  every  day  see  more  and  more 
the  propriety  of  deriving  my  religion  from  the  uncommented 
oracles  of  God,  and  of  forming  my  system  on  the  connected 
declarations  of  the  New  Testament.  I  wish  to  unshackle 
myself  from  the  vassalage  of  text-books,  summaries,  and  hu- 
man systems.  I  wish  to  give  the  Bible  a  fair  trial ;  for  if  it 
alone  is  not  sufficient  to-  make  a  Christian,  "  we  are  of  all 
men  most  miserable."  I  at  present,  therefore,  confine  myself 
to  the  perusal  of  the  Bible,  and  occasionally  some  book  of 
practical  morality.  I  find  many  things  which  I  do  not  un- 
derstand— many  passages,  indeed,  totally  unintelligible  ;  but 
these  difficulties  are  to  be  got  over,  not  by  a  religious  com- 


4  CORRESPOisJDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

mentary,  but  by  a  classical  criticism.  I  conceive  every  duty 
of  a  Christian  to  be  comprehended  in  the  single  word  transla- 
tion— a  translation  of  the  Scriptures  into  his  own  tongue,  and 
a  translation  of  their  truths  into  his  own  heart  and  conduct. 
All  we  have  to  do  is  to  ascertain  the  doctrines,  and  to  believe 
them  ;  to  ascertain  the  duties,  and  to  practice  them  ;  to  make 
the  Bible  our  vade  onecum,  our  book  of  reference,  our  book  of 
trust.  I  will  rejoice,  after  my  opinions  are  settled,  to  exam- 
ine those  of  others  ;  but  I  think  it  is  inverting  the  process  to 
begin  with  the  latter.  My  objections  to  the  school  of  theo- 
logical orthodoxy  are  three  :  First,  its  tenets  are  not  authori- 
tative, and  therefore  may  be  wrong.  Next,  its  tenets  are  not 
progressive.  The  New  Testament  gives  you  Christianity  in 
its  growth  ;  a  system  of  divinity  displays  it  at  some  given  step 
of  its  progress,  or  at  best  at  its  maturity.  The  latter  is  a  re- 
ligion of  results.  It  has  been  formed  by  a  man  who  has  be- 
come unconscious  of  the  steps  of  his  own  cogitations,  and  who, 
from  familiarity  with  demonstrative  truths,  now  regards  them 
as  axioms.  He,  from  the  sublime  height  of  his  own  concep- 
tions, looks  down  with  contempt  on  the  man  who  complains 
that  he  has  removed  the  ladder  by  which  he  first  ascended ; 
and,  accustomed  to  the  wide  ken  of  his  own  exalted  region, 
wonders  at  those  whose  views  rest  within  a  narrower  horizon. 
How  different  the  system  of  the  Bible  I  It  leads  you  on 
step  by  step,  and  accommodates  its  lessons  to  your  capacity. 
While  perusing  it,  one  naturally  fixes  on  the  truths  which  are 
most  congenial  ;  familiarity  with  these  prepares  us  for  others 
more  remote,  until  we  at  length  embrace  the  whole  scheme 
of  the  Gospel.  Thus,  I  may  first  delight  to  dwell  on  the  Gos- 
pel morality  ;  a  second  perusal  may  show  that  faith  is  also 
necessary  ;  a  third  perusal  may  convince  me  that  morality 
and  faith  must  be  united,  and  that  it  is  not  a  union  of  sepa- 
rate acts,  but  of  consequential  duties  ;  and  I  may  finally  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  our  salvation  resolves  itself  into  a  sim- 
ple and  disencumbered  act  of  acceptance.  But  if  you  at  once 
come  forward  with  this  last  proposition,  you  present  me  with 


MR.  JAMES  ANDERSON. 


a  system  in  which  I  can  not  sympathize,  and  which,  however 
well  founded,  rests  on  what  must  be  to  me  a  metaphysical 
distinction,  until  I  arrive  at  it  by  a  process  of  individual  ex- 
perience. My  third  objection  is,  that  theological  orthodoxy  is 
too  stimulative.  It  begets  a  disrelish  for  the  simple  excite- 
ment of  the  Gospel.  It  urges  you  by  such  a  multiplicity  of 
motives  that  you  become  too  passive  for  a  New  Testament 
impulse.  It  clothes  the  doctrines  in  so  much  metaphysical 
acumen  that  you  consider  their  Gospel  dress  as  slovenly,  and 
it  anatomizes  the  precepts  so  much,  that  the  simple  exhibi- 
tion of  a  text  suggests  no  ideas  of  vitality.  We  revel  in  a 
kind  of  religious  epicurism,  and  lose  all  taste  for  sober  fare. 

These  and  similar  considerations  have  made  me  resolve  to 
study,  in  the  mean  time,  only  the  New  Testament.  I  may  not 
thus  so  well  prepare  myself  for  classing  with  a  particular  sect ; 
but  I  will  have  greater  security  in  my  own  principles,  and  in 
my  intercourse  with  others  I  will  be  more  ready  to  observe 
the  maxim,  "  I  have  yet  many  things  to  say  unto  you,  but  you 
can  not  bear  them  now." 

I  will  soon  write  you  again.  And  requesting  your  prayers 
for  my  progress,  I  remain,  my  dear  friend,  yours, 

James  Anderson. 

No.  III. — Mr.  James  Anderson  to  Dr.  Chalmers. 

Dundee,  \Q,lh  July,  1812. 
My  dear  Sir — I  have  expected  a  letter  from  you  for  two 
or  three  weeks  past,  but  have  been  disappointed.  I  wish  our 
correspondence  could  assume  a  more  decided  and  regular  form, 
and  that  I  might  be  able  to  leave  the  generalities,  which  have 
hitherto  occupied  me,  and  proceed  to  the  characteristic  parts 
of  Christianity.  I  must,  however,  once  more  beg  of  you  to 
permit  me  to  state  the  sentiments  under  which  I  peruse  my 
Bible,  for  even  on  this  point  I  feel  perplexed,  and  I  see  it  oc- 
cupying so  prominent  a  place  in  the  systems  of  matured  Chris- 
tians as  to  disconcert  me  with  regard  to  the  very  first  steps 
of  my  progress. 


CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


I  have  resolved,  then,  to  make  the  Bible  the  rule  of  my 
opinions  and  conduct ;  not  so  much  from  any  deep  sense  of 
sin  or  consciousness  of  my  own  insufficiency,  as  from  a  con- 
viction that  the  Bible  is  a  revelation  from  God,  and  a  determ- 
ination to  submit  to  that  revelation,  whatever  it  may  be.  1 
have  divested  my  mind  of  that  repugnance  to  the  adoption 
of  truths  which  arises  from  their  disagreement  with  our  prior 
conceptions  ;  but  I  do  this  in  such  a  state  of  passivity,  that 
I  would  adopt  without  hesitation,  if  I  found  it  in  the  Bible, 
that  scheme  of  salvation,  a  consciousness  of  the  insufficiency 
of  which  is  believed  by  many  Christians  to  be  a  necessary 
preliminary  in  any  attempts  to  become  a  Christian.  As  I  do 
not  allow  my  prior  conceptions  of  Divine  m^-cy  to  obstruct 
my  admission  of  the  declaration  that  sinners  will  be  con- 
demned to  everlasting  punishment,  so  I  do  not  permit  my  pri- 
or conceptions  of  Divine  justice  to  facilitate  my  admission  of 
the  declaration  that  there  is  no  salvation  but  in  Jesus.  I 
open  the  Bible  to  ascertain  the  will  of  God,  and  so  conscious 
of  my  inability  to  judge  of  His  counsels  that  I  would,  with 
perfect  security,  expect  salvation  from  ceremonial  observances, 
had  the  Bible  declared  that  with  these  God  would  be  satis- 
lied.  But  I  at  the  same  time  allow  that  it  is  possible  Chat 
such  a  procedure  may  be  presumptuous,  and  that  God  might 
have  declared  that  He  would  not  permit  the  truths  of  the 
Gospel  to  be  investigated  until  we  approached  them  under  a 
conviction  of  their  necessity.  Here,  then,  I  feel  embarrassed. 
Had  1  read  only  the  New  Testament,  I  do  not  think  that  such 
embarrassment  would  have  existed  ;  but  I  have  found,  both 
in  books  and  the  conversation  of  Christians,  great  stress  put 
on  this  very  question,  and  I  do  not  know  whether  to  refer  it  to 
their  being  wise  above  what  is  written,  or  to  my  own  imper- 
fect acquaintance  with  Scripture.  There  are  many  topics  of 
a  similar  nature,  concerning  which  I  am  reduced  to  the  same 
slate  of  perplexity.  For  example  :  Leslie,  the  bookseller, 
whom  I  believe  to  be  a  sincere  and  experienced  Christian, 
asked  me,  a  few  days  ago,  to  write  an  appendix  to  a  small  tract 


MR.  JAMES  ANDERSON. 


he  is  reprinting.  I  did  so  ;  and,  having  given  a  short  account 
of  the  nature  and  beneficent  exertions  of  the  Religious  Tract 
Societies,  I  concluded  with  a  few  exhortations — among  other 
things  recommending  to  the  reader  frequent  prayer  to  God. 
When  I  carried  it  to  him,  he  (with  a  frankness  which  in  a 
dependent  tradesman  I  consider  no  mean  proof  of  the  sin- 
cerity of  his  principles)  told  me  that  he  did  not  approve  of 
my  recommending  prayer,  "  because,"  to  use  his  own  words, 
"  prayer  is  sinful:  in  the  unregenerate."  This  opinion  I  heard, 
at  the  moment,  with  extreme  disgust ;  but  a  little  reflection 
soon  convinced  me  that  it  is  possible  his  opinion  may  be  true, 
for  the  arguments  which  he  used  were  at  least  plausible.  Al- 
though I  retain  my  former  opinion,  I  have  a  sense  of  insecu- 
rity from  these  repeated  obstacles  and  difficulties,  and  I  feel 
a  disappointment  at  not  finding  the  scheme  of  Christianity  so 
well  defined  as  I  expected.  I  would  be  ashamed  to  say  it  to 
any  one  else  ;  but  I  confess  to  you  that,  at  this  moment,  I 
have  no  adequate  and  well-defined  conceptions  of  the  plan  of 
salvation,  or  of  the  economy  of  that  intercourse  which  subsists 
between  a  Christian  and  the  Godhead.  I  perceive  that  there 
is,  if  I  may  so  express  it,  much  more  of  business  in  the  un- 
seen realities  of  the  Gospel  than  I  formerly  conceived  ;  and 
that  these  realities,  whatever  they  may  be,  are  something  as 
distinct  from  my  simple  and  generic  notions  twelve  months 
ago,  as  the  ideas  which  a  clown  entertains  of  the  atmosphere 
are  from  those  of  one  acquainted  with  its  chemical  anal- 
ysis. What,  however,  the  specific  peculiarities  of  the  system 
are  I  do  not  yet  perceive  in  a  clear  and  uniform  manner  ; 
and  the  diversity  of  opinion,  among  conscientious,  candid,  and 
enlightened  men  on  this  subject,  is  to  me  the  greatest  of  all 
discouragements  in  my  progress.  One  recommends  prayer, 
another  says  that  faith  must  precede  prayer  ;  and  thus  I  am 
left  in  doubt  as  to  the  propriety  of  employing  such  prayers  as 
I  at  present  am  most  inclined  to  use.  Do  you  conceive  that 
this  prayer,  "O  God  I  so  guide  me  in  the  investigation  of  thy 
Gospel,  that  I  may  arrive  at  a  distinct  knowledge  of  that  faith 


8  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

which  is  the  source  of  acceptable  prayer" — do  you  conceive 
that  such  a  prayer,  put  up  to  the  Deity  upon  a  conviction  of 
His  omniscience  and  omnipotence,  w^ould  be  heard,  although 
not  made  in  the  name  of  Christ,  or  accompanied  by  a  request 
for  the  Spirit's  operation  ;  or  would  you  consider  it  as  an  ad- 
dress to  the  Unknown  God  ?  Or,  to  take  another  instance, 
do  you  think  that  the  prayer  of  that  man  would  be  sinful,  who, 
upon  being  presented  with  a  Bible,  and  told  what  it  professed 
to  be,  should  pray  to  God  so  to  direct  him  in  the  investigation 
of  its  evidences  that  he  might  detect  its  falshood  if  it  was  un- 
true ?  Such  prayers  I  should  deem  efficacious  for  the  follow- 
ing reasons  :  Because  belief  in  the  existence  and  superintend- 
ence of  a  Deity  I  consider  to  be  faith — and,  although  not  that 
faith  which  will  secure  salvation,  yet  such  a  faith  as  will  ren- 
der a  prayer  for  further  convictions  acceptable  ;  and  because 
Jesus  recommended  prayer  before  (if  we  may  judge  from  the 
arrangement  of  the  history)  the  scheme  of  saving  faith  was 
unfolded,  and  when  His  hearers  were  so  far  ignorant  of  His 
nature  as  to  be  astonished  that  He  used  a  style  more  authori- 
tative than  the  Scribes. 

I  have  many  other  subjects  to  discuss  with  you,  but  I  will 
not  abuse  your  patience  at  present.  Of  the  need  I  have  of 
assistance,  you  have  ample  proof  in  the  unsettled  and  contra- 
dictory nature  of  my  letters.  I  am  still  undecided  in  the  very 
fundamentals  of  rehgion,  and  in  moments  of  gloom  I  often 
dread  I  will  relapse  into  a  state  of  obdurate  skepticism.  I 
am,  my  dear  sir,  yours  truly,  James  Anderson. 

No.  IV. — Mr.  James  Anderson  to  Dr.  Chalmers. 

Peterhead,  28th  September,  1812. 
My  dear  Sir — I  was  never  more  anxious  to  be  with  you 
than  since  I  came  here,  for  my  mind  has  been  distracted  by 
the  most  violent  emotions  respecting  a  subject  intimately  con- 
nected with  my  future  happiness,  and  perhaps  my  eternal 
salvation — I  mean  my  future  profession.  .  .  .  My  father 
expresses  himself  averse  to  my  becoming  a  clergyman,  for 


MR.  JAMES  ANDERSON. 


many  reasons,  which  he  enumerates,  and  adds,  "  that  a  desire 
to  advance  the  cause  of  Christianity  may  be  gratified  by  a 
well-intentioned  and  well-informed  layman  as  eflectually,  and, 
in  many  cases,  with  more  effect  than  by  a  clergyman."  I  en- 
deavor to  bring  my  mind  to  this  simple  decision — in  which 
way  shall  I  most  promote  the  glory  of  God  ?  But  a  thousand 
other  considerations  intrude  in  spite  of  me,  until  at  last  I  get 
bewildered  in  questions  of  personal  comfort  and  worldly  esti- 
mation. What  I  most  dread  is,  that  my  religious  progress 
would  not  be  so  great  in  the  situation  of  a  merchant  as  that 
of  a  clergyman  ;  for,  were  I  able,  amid  the  distractions  of  busi- 
ness, to  acquire  and  maintain  that  tone  of  elevated  Christian- 
ity, to  which  the  pursuits  of  a  clergyman  are  so  favorable,  I  be- 
lieve my  exertions  in  the  cause  would  be  more  useful  on  ac- 
count of  the  greater  extent  of  my  means,  the  absence  of  pro- 
fessional obligation,  and  because  my  influence  would  be  ex- 
erted in  a  sphere  to  which  clergymen  have  little  access,  and 
which  of  course  is  little  preoccupied.  On  all  these  points  I  am 
most  desirous  to  have  your  opinion.  My  father  further  says, 
that  if  aiTangements  can  be  made  with  the  Bank  of  Scotland, 
whose  servant  I  am  at  present,  he  is  fully  inclined  to  give 
me  another  winter  at  Edinburgh.  "  This,"  he  says,  "  may 
prove  useful  whatever  your  future  destination  may  be,  and  it 
will  afford  time  for  us  all  to  consider  and  implore  direction 
for  our  government  in  meeting  the  allotments  of  Providence." 
This  is  my  present  situation.  We  return  to  Dundee  on  the 
6th  or  7th  of  October,  and  I  will  then  either  visit  or  write 
you.  I  have  a  dependence  on  your  counsel  and  friendship 
which  Christianity  alone  could  inspire  ;  and  I  feel  grateful  to 
my  God  that  He  has  brought  us  together.  The  affairs  of  time 
are  slowly  shrinking  into  their  due  dimensions — the  realities 
of  an  eternal  world  are  gradually  expanding  before  me — I  be- 
gin to  take  refuge  from  the  cares  and  the  prospects  of  life  in 
the  bosom  of  my  Savior,  and  to  realize  that  period  when, 
through  His  merits,  the  faithful  shall  worship  before  the 
throne  of  God  forever. 

A  2 


10      CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

Since  I  came  here  I  have  read  "  Edwards  on  Necessity," 
and  I  have  read  it  with  rapture.  I  have  as  much  confidence 
in  his  theory  as  in  any  mathematical  proposition  ;  and  I  find 
that  it  leads  at  once  to  a  thorough  solution  of  what  appeared 
to  me  the  greatest  difficulties  of  the  Bible.  It  is  the  centre 
pillar  of  Christianity  ;  and  if  there  is  one  subject  more  than 
another  in  which  I  should  hke  to  have  my  language  and  con- 
ceptions modeled  to  strict  propriety,  it  is  this.  But  as  yet,  al- 
though I  see  the  gross  absurdity  of  the  Arminian  system,  my 
new  opinions  sit  uneasily  upon  me,  and  it  w^ill  require  some 
time  to  assimilate  them  with  the  train  of  my  ordinary  concep- 
tions. 

What  is  true,  however,  must  ultimately  prove  familiar.  I 
see,  by  to-day's  paper,  that  Wilberforce  has  refused  to  stand 
during  the  approaching  election,  and  is  to  retire  from  public 
life.  This  I  consider  one  of  the  most  alarming  features  of  the 
times.  Such  a  man  w^ould  not  have  quitted  his  post  if  he  had 
not  seen  that  his  exertions  were  fruitless  ;  and  when  worth 
loses  its  sway  over  public  opinion  a  country  is  near  its  down- 
fall. His  memory  will  ever  be  cherished  ;  and,  although 
Britain  yield  to  the  fate  of  nations,  his  name  will  emerge 
from  the  ruins  of  her  greatness  a  monument  to  the  heroism 
and  the  triumphs  of  Christian  principle.  Even  at  this  mo- 
ment he  is  known  throughout  Africa,  and  his  name  circulates 
in  their  dreary  habitations  as  that  of  some  mysterious  being 
who  curbs  the  fury  of  the  whites.  I  ever  am,  my  dear  friend, 
yours  most  truly,  James  Anderson. 


No.  V. — Mr.  Thomas  Smith  to  Dr.  Chalmers. 

Glasgow,  13th  November^  1815. 
Dear  Sir — After  a  week's  separation  from  you,  which,  to 
say  the  least,  has  been  very  tedious  to  me,  the  shght  com- 
munication I  can  produce  by  writing  is  very  acceptable. 
The  weather,  during  the  last  week,  has  been  very  bad,  and  it 
gives  me  some  comfort  to  think  that  only  two  days  have 


MR.  THOMAS  SMITH.  n 


elapsed  since  you  left  this,  which  would  have  answered  for 
our  walk. 

I  have  read  with  great  interest  the  accounts  of  the  Mora- 
vian missionaries  which  you  were  so  kind  as  lend  me.  These 
people  seem  to  have  more  religion  and  knowledge  of  their  Cre- 
ator than  any  I  have  ever  heard  of.  The  mild  description 
they  give  of  the  inhuman  conduct  of  the  captain  of  a  vessel  who 
carried  some  of  them  1000  miles  from  their  place  of  destina- 
tion, gives  an  example  of  forgiveness  which,  I  dare  say,  is  to 
be  found  among  no  other  people  but  themselves.  And  surely, 
when  we  read  of  an  instance  of  forgiveness,  so  far  above  what 
we  would  count  a  prodigy  of  virtue,  we  need  not  be  surprised 
to  hear  of  the  spiritual  enjoyment  they  feel,  which  no  doubt 
is  the  reward  of  their  Christian  conduct.  From  what  I  have 
met  with  in  these  journals,  I  see  a  very  strong  inducement  to 
a  religious  life.  Indeed,  when  I  consider  that  it  is  a  people 
now  living  who  possess  spiritual  advantages  which  make 
them  superior  to  the  pleasures  of  this  world,  I  feel  this  induce- 
ment presented  with  such  plainness  and  truth  that  it  is  calcu- 
lated to  make  a  deeper  impression  upon  me  than  the  most 
elaborate  composition  :  showing  to  what  extent  the  Christian 
duties  might  be  performed,  and  their  rewards  experienced, 
founded  on  the  consolations  of  ancient  Christians. 

From  the  consideration  of  the  advantages  these  Moravians 
enjoy,  I  derive  great  encouragement  to  proceed  on  the  good 
work  which,  I  trust,  is  begun  within  me  ;  nor  do  I  derive  less 
when  I  recognize  in  each  temptation,  as  it  presents  itself,  a  de- 
vice of  the  powers  of  darkness,  and  know  the  triumph  it  pro- 
duces to  a  higher  order  of  beings  when  they  know  that  their 
attempts  are  baffled.  I  remain,  my  dear  sir,  with  much  es- 
teem,  yours  affectionately,  Thomas  Smith. 

No.  VI. — Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mr.  Thomas  Smith. 

Edinburgh,  15th  November,  1815. 
My  dear  Sir — I  read  with  much  affection  and  pleasure 
four  very  interesting  communication.     I  have  been  thinking 


12      CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

much  of  you  ;  and  I  trust  that  the  tenderness  I  feel  will  nev- 
er be  wounded  by  any  woeful  apostasy  on  your  part  to  the  spir- 
it and  the  practices  of  an  alienated  world.  As  to  its  grosser 
profligacies,  it  is  my  delight  to  think  that  you  are  purely  and 
nobly  superior  to  them  ;  but  do  all  you  can  to  strengthen 
your  abhorrence  of  them.  Let  not  the  withering  example  of 
others  so  much  as  harden  your  feelings  against  the  exhibition 
of  them  ;  for  it  is  not  enough,  my  dear  sir,  that  you  keep 
aloof  from  the  practice  of  external  ungodliness,  you  should  also 
cherish  a  most  delicate  recoilment  of  mind  from  the  intrusion 
of  every  gross  and  unworthy  conception,  recollecting  that  it 
is  to  the  pu7-e  in  heart  that  our  kind  and  amiable  Savior 
has  promised  the  blessedness  of  seeing  God. 

We  read  in  the  Bible  of  the  first  love — a  phrase  which 
has  been  much  commented  upon  by  theologians,  and  which 
is  supposed  to  embrace  all  that  peace,  and  joy,  and  ecstatic 
affections  that  are  felt  by  the  heart,  on  the  first  admission  of 
confidence  in  a  God,  whom  it  sees  through  the  medium  of  the 
Gospel  to  be  a  reconciled  Father.  I  wish  you  every  enjoy- 
ment of  this  kind,  which  consists  Avith  our  present  state  ;  and 
many  may  be  those  sacred  hours  of  communion  with  Heaven, 
which  give  you  the  blessed  proof  of  experience  that  the  way 
you  have  chosen  is,  indeed,  a  way  of  pleasantness,  a  path  of 
peace.  I  have  great  hopes  of  you.  I  love  the  spirit  which 
animates  your  letter.  I  sympathize  most  cordially  with  all 
your  taste  and  admiration  for  those  Heaven-born  men  who 
have  long  been  the  light  of  the  world  ;  and  you  will  put  it 
down  to  the  right  cause  when  you  ascribe  it  to  my  anxious 
and  tender  regard  for  you  that  I  point  your  attention  to  that 
part  of  the  Bible  where  certain  are  charged  with  leaving 
their  first  love.  Oh  !  do,  my  much-loved  friend,  cultivate  a 
suspicion  of  yourself  Keep  in  firm  bond  of  dependence  with 
the  Savior.  Pray  unceasingly  for  the  progress  of  His  work 
in  your  heart ;  and  while  you  strive  mightily,  let  it  be  by  His 
grace  working  in  you  mightily.  Be  assured  that  there  is  a 
call  and  a  significancy  in  the  following  directions  :  Let  him 


MR.  THOMAS  SMITH.  13 


that  thinketh  he  standeth  take  heed  lest  he  fall.  Work  out 
your  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling.  Mix  trembling 
with  your  mirth.  Pass  the  time  of  your  sojourning  here  in 
fear.  Do  aspire  after  a  realizing  sense  of  the  holy  and  the 
heart-searching  God.  I  want  you  not  to  he  painfully  in- 
tense in  His  service  ;  you  are  in  earnest,  and  with  God's 
blessing  you  will  feel  your  way  ;  and  I  trust  you  will  come 
experimentally  to  know  that  the  way  of  sanctification,  while 
a  way  of  watchful,  unceasing  diligence,  is  also  a  way  of 
peace,  and  that  in  quietness  and  in  confid'^nce  you  shall  have 
strength. 

May  I  crave  a  remembrance  from  you  in  your  hours  of  in- 
tercourse with  God.  Give  me  a  part  in  your  daily  prayers 
as  you  have  in  mine  ;  and  let  the  affection,  which  I  believe 
to  be  mutual,  and  equally  strong  and  sincere  on  your  part  as 
on  mine,  be  thus  kept  alive,  and  receive  its  constant  aug- 
mentations on  this  side  of  time,  till  it  ripen  to  the  love  of  a 
pure  and  happy  eternity. 

I  looked  into  Watts'  "  Sermons"  the  other  day.  I  was 
much  struck  with  the  title  of  one  of  them,  "  The  hopeful 
youth  falling  short  of  Heaven."  I  had  not  time  to  read  it, 
but  presume  it  will  be  excellent.  You  can  not,  my  dear  sir, 
you  can  not  err  on  the  side  of  caution  and  extreme  jealousy 
of  yourself  It  is  not  a  jealousy  which  will  disturb  you,  but 
it  will  direct  you  to  the  right  source  of  strength  and  influ- 
ence, and  to  the  diligent  use  of  that  strength  in  every  matter 
that  comes  before  you.  I  should  like  you  to  read  that  ser- 
mon, and  to  have  your  opinion  of  it. 

Give  my  kindest  compliments  to  Miss  Fortune  when  you 
see  her.  I  intend  being  at  home  on  Saturday — come  and 
sup  with  me  at  night,  spending  a  precious  hour  with  me  in 
my  study.  Let  me  know  if  you  can  read  my  letters  easily, 
for,  if  not,  I  shall  make  a  more  careful  exertion  afterward. 
I  beg  you  will  always  write  me  at  very  great  length,  as  close 
as  you  can,  and  filling  up  the  folded  spaces  of  the  last  page. 
Tell  Mrs.  C.  that  I  have  not  gotten  her  promised  letter,  and 


14      CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

am  disappointed.  You  say  there  have  only  been  two  walk- 
ing days  for  a  whole  week  in  Glasgow.  Every  day  has  been 
fair  in  Edinburgh,  and  I  have  walked  every  day.  But  what 
to  me  is  a  still  more  interesting  point  of  comparison,  I  have 
lived  in  a  clergyman's  house,  and  he  is  suffered  to  remain  in  a 
state  of  the  most  enviable  tranquillity.  None  of  that  feasting, 
and  clamoring  about  attentions,  and  petitioning  about  poor, 
and  drudgery  with  the  work  of  institutions,  and  hard-driving 
at  a  multiplicity  of  secular  and  never-ending  affairs  ;  all  of 
which,  unless  simplified  and  abridged,  would  disgust  any  man 
with  a  place  where  mere  spiritual  work  is  undervalued,  and 
the  demands  of  a  clergyman  for  leisure  are  neither  understood 
nor  sympathized  with. 

Be  assured  of  my  warmest  regard  and  unceasing  prayers 
for  you.     Yours  very  affectionately, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  VII. — Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mr.  Thomas  Smith. 

Blochairn,  21st  December,  1815. 

My  dear  Sir — Lest  we  should  miss  each  other  to-day,  it 
occurs  to  me  to  state  to  you,  in  reference  to  our  conversation 
of  yesterday,  that  you  should  not  make  it  a  capital  aim  to  ob- 
tain clear  and  immediate  views  on  the  doctrine  of  election  ; 
and  even,  though  my  argument  be  not  thoroughly  acquiesced 
in,  I  can  say,  for  your  comfort,  that  however  luminous  my 
own  conceptions  may  be  to  my  own  mind,  I  have  repeatedly 
failed  in  my  attempts  to  reach  the  convictions  of  others  who 
were  men  of  powerful  understanding. 

But  what  I  am  mainly  in  earnest  about  is,  that  you  do  not 
for  a  single  moment  slacken  or  suspend  the  practical  work  of 
sanctification  on  the  solution  of  any  speculative  difficulty 
whatever.  If  to  your  faith  you  add  the  splendid  list  of  ac- 
complishments set  before  you  in  2  Peter,  i.,  5-7,  you  will  nev- 
er fall,  but  make  your  calling  and  election  sure.  You  do  not 
see  that  election  inscribed  on  the  records  of  Heaven  ;  but  you 
are  told  in  plain  language  what  is  the  instrument  by  which 


MR.  THOMAS  SMITH.  15 

you  make  it  sure  to  you  on  earth.  That  instrument  is  dili- 
gence  (2  Peter,  i.,  5,  10)  ;  and  I  trust  you  will  never  let 
down  a  diligence  of  which  I  trust  to  see  the  prints  upon  j-our 
character  in  time,  and  to  share  the  rewards  along  with  you 
in  eternity. 

See  2  Peter,  iii.,  16.  I  rejoice  that  you  are  so  impressed 
■with  the  reality  of  a  powerful  and  insidious  tempter,  and  I 
would  have  you  not  to  be  ignorant  of  his  devices.  He  may 
turn  an  anxiety  after  Christian  doctrine  into  an  engine  for  his 
purpose  ;  and  I  beg  that  you  will  be  frank  enough  to  let  me 
know,  when  you  judge  it  for  your  practical  benefit,  that  our 
conversation  on  that  particular  subject  should  be  suspended. 

It  would  furthermore  give  me  great  pleasure  that  you 
wrote  me  an  occasional  note,  though  you  had  time  only  for 
half  a  dozen  lines  :  you  should  not,  my  dear  sir,  stand  upon 
difficulties  with  me,  and  I  have  to  entreat  a  little  more  con- 
fidence from  you  in  this  way  than  I  have  yet  witnessed. 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  YIII. — Mr.  Thomas  Smith  to  Dr.  Chalmers. 

Glasgow,  22(i  December,  1815. 
My  dear  Sir — I  read  the  note  you  gave  me  to-day  with 
much  interest — this,  indeed,  has  been  the  case  with  all  I  have 
received  from  you — but  I  feel  very  grateful  to  discover  in 
your  last  such  a  kind  and  anxious  attention  to  my  most  sub- 
stantial welfare.  You  have  placed  my  desire  to  become  ac- 
quainted with  a  particular  doctrine  of  Christianity  in  a  light 
in  which  I  think  I  should  myself  have  viewed  it,  had  I  de- 
voted much  of  my  time  and  thoughts  to  the  subject ;  but,  as 
the  matter  stands  at  present,  I  trust  I  am  far  from  neglecting 
the  very  few  duties  I  can  perform  in  obedience  to  the  Divine 
will,  in  the  pursuit  of  a  subject  that  must  have  the  same  ef- 
fect on  my  ultimate  salvation,  whether  I  am  convinced  of  the 
exact  manner  of  its  operation  or  not.  These  are  my  present 
feelings  on  the  subject.  I  know  well,  however,  that  I  might 
become  so  interested  in  the  business  as  to  attend  to  it  in  prej- 


1(3  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

udice  of  more  important  duties.  It  is  in  this  view  that  I  see 
the  importance  of  your  warning  voice,  and  that  I  beg  you  to 
lift  it  often,  and  oftener  than  you  think  there  is  occasion  for 
it,  because  I  fear  very  much  that  you  have  formed  too  high 
an  opinion  regarding  my  present  state,  both  as  to  my  rehgion 
and  morals.  It  requires  a  long  acquaintance  to  discover  the 
exact  character  of  any  person.  Ours,  indeed,  has  been  inti- 
mate ;  but  there  are  circumstances  which,  I  think,  may  have 
operated  with  you  too  favorably  toward  discovering  the  true 
state  of  mine  ;  and  I  hope  you  may  take  this  hint  and  act 
upon  it,  faithfully  pointing  out  what  you  see  amiss,  and  I,  in 
return,  shall  make  it  my  serious  business  to  reform. 

As  to  the  doctrine  of  predestination,  without  much  anxiety, 
I  have  obtained  a  view  of  it  which  most  entirely  satisfies 
myself;  and  I  only  wait  for  the  explanation  of  what,  I  must 
say,  at  present  appears  to  me  irreconcilable,  viz.,  that  under 
the  belief  of  this  doctrine  and  its  actual  operation,  it  is  in  the 
power  of  a  person  predestined  to  be  saved,  by  any  misconduct 
on  his  part,  to  forfeit  his  election,  or  vice  versa.  This  really 
puzzles  me  a  little,  and  I  look  to  you  for  assistance.  I  do  not 
forget,  however,  that,  puzzle  me  as  it  may,  if  I  act  conscien- 
tiously in  the  discharge  of  my  duties  to  God  and  man,  and 
possess  a  firm  faith  on  the  merits  of  my  Savior,  both  to  enable 
me  to  accomplish  this  and  to  save  me  from  my  deficiencies, 
that  I  have  placed  myself  in  as  good  a  situation  to  deserve 
reward  as  I  possibly  could  ;  and  with  this  comfort,  which  I 
think  substantial,  I  shall  quiet  my  mind,  and,  trusting  in  my 
Savior,  I  shall  not  be  troubled,  though  all  the  questions  theo- 
logians ever  started  were  brought  to  bear  against  me. 

I  am  aware  you  may  think  this  quite  unphilosophical,  but 
I  am  happy  in  my  ignorance,  and  have  the  authority  of  a  sage 
for  saying  that  he  that  increaseth  wisdom  increaseth  sorrow. 

My  dear  sir,  I  must  now  conclude  ;  and  I  am  happy  I  can 
say  at  present,  what  I  should  never  have  said  in  your  pres- 
ence, that  I  love  you  above  all  my  friends  on  earth.  Amid 
all  the  changes  this  world  can  produce,  in  this  I  trust  I  shall 


MR.  THOMAS  SMITH.  17 


not  change,  and  shall  carry  it  with  me  to  a  land  beyond  the 
world's  influence.  Thomas  Smith. 

No.  IX. — Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mr.  Thomas  Smith. 

Blochairn,  23d  December,  1815. 

My  dear  Sir — Your  kind  note  was  highly  gratifying  to 
me,  and,  in  addition  to  every  other  argument  for  a  frequent 
interchange  of  them,  I  think  that  one  mighty  advantage  is, 
that  it  may  reduce  to  a  point  many  an  agitated  topic,  and 
facilitate  the  precise  solution  of  many  a  question  which  would 
not  be  set  at  rest  by  the  fading  and  the  desultory  conversa- 
tion of  whole  weeks. 

Your  question  is,  "How  comes  it  that  a  man  predestined 
to  salvation  has  it  not  in  his  power  to  fall  away  from  it?" 
I  answer,  that  every  man  may,  if  he  ivill,  commit  sin  unto 
perdition  ;  but  the  man  predestined  to  salvation  wills  not, 
and  does  not,  commit  any  such  sin.  God,  who  decreed  His 
salvation,  decreed  and  foreknew  all  the  steps  that  went  be- 
fore it.  He  knew  the  effect  of  every  one  circumstance  upon 
His  volitions  ;  and  should  the  practical  effect  of  our  views  on 
predestination  be  that  we  turn  careless  and  fall  away,  then 
God  foresaw  this,  and  knew  our  final  destruction  from  the  be- 
ginning, and  we  shall  afterward  know  from  the  event  that 
w^e  are  not  foreordained  unto  life. 

I  trust  that  a  thorough  and  well-grounded  faith  in  this  doc- 
trine will  at  length  be  formed  in  you  ;  but,  in  the  mean  time, 
make  a  vigorous  use  of  all  that  is  clearly  and  distinctly  un- 
derstood by  you.  I  am  much  pleased  with  your  humility  in 
thinking  that  I  have  overrated  your  religion  and  your  mor- 
als ;  but  I  trust  I  do  not  overrate  them  when  I  say  that  you 
hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness  ;  that,  measuring  you 
by  others,  you  stand  at  a  wide  distance  from  all  the  gross  and 
vulgar  profligacies  of  this  unhallowed  generation  ;  and  while 
I  fearlessly  offer  this  tribute  of  respect  to  your  character,  will 
you  permit  me  further  to  say,  that  the  effect  of  all  your  doings 
Mould  be  hurtful  did  the  consciousness  of  them  go  to  weau 


18  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

you  from  dependence  on  Christ,  or  turn  your  eye  from  Him 
as  all  your  desire  and  all  your  salvation  ?  Go  joyfully  to 
God  in  His  name  ;  follow  closely  in  the  path  of  His  exam- 
ple ;  feel  your  need  of  His  Spirit  in  every  enterprise  ;  have 
no  doubt  of  your  forgiveness  through  the  merits  of  His  blood, 
coupling  with  faith  in  this  one  testimony  the  acceptance  of 
every  one  saying  about  the  necessity  of  holiness  and  self-de- 
nial, and  the  mortification  of  all  that  is  sinful,  and  the  adorn- 
ment of  the  whole  man  with  the  graces  of  the  Spirit,  and  the 
dedication  of  the  whole  life  to  the  will  of  Him  who  poured 
out  his  soul  unto  the  death  for  you. 

My  heart  is  greatly  enlarged  toward  you,  my  dearest  of  all 
earthly  acquaintances  ;  and  it  is  my  prayer  that  God  may 
more  and  more  purify,  and  exalt,  and  Christianize  that  friend- 
ship which  it  has  pleased  Him  to  put  into  our  bosoms. 

Yours  ever,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  X. — Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mr.  Thomas  Smith. 

BlochairN;  29th  December^  1815. 

My  dear  Sir — When  I  can  not  be  present  with  you  in 
person,  I  find  that  it  in  some  manner  fills  up  the  disappoint- 
ment to  sit  down  to  an  exercise  in  which  I  feel  my  heart  to 
he  altogether  present  with  and  alive  about  you. 

I  have  been  thinking  more  of  your  very  valuable  contribu- 
tion to  our  scriptural  conference  of  yesterday,  and  the  use  I 
make  of  it  is  to  endear  me  the  more  to  our  plan,  quite  as- 
sured that  much  will  result  from  it.  Let  it  convince  us  more 
and  more  of  the  prodigious  fertility  of  the  Bible  ;  how  much 
lies  hidden  and  unobserved,  even  after  many  perusals  ;  and 
surely,  if  it  be  true  that  a  man  may  read  it  a  hundred  times, 
and  find  something  on  his  next  reading  which  he  missed  on 
all  his  former  ones,  a  joint  reading  bids  fair  for  multiplying 
our  lessons,  and  must  give  a  double  advantage  to  each  of 
them  who  are  embarked  in  it. 

Do,  my  dear  sir,  feel  how  various  and  how  animatmg  a 
field  lies  before  the  man  who  has  resolved  on  being  the  alto- 


MR.  THOMAS  SMITH.  19 

gether  Christian.  He  may  look  for  indefinite  attainments  in 
knowledge,  as  well  as  for  an  ever-increasing  lustre  of  accom- 
plishments and  of  character  ;  and  my  earnest,  and  fervent, 
and  often-repeated  prayer  for  you  is,  that,  sanctified  wholly 
by  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  we  may,  after  running  our  des- 
tined course  as  fellow-helpers  on  earth,  mingle  with  the  pure 
families  of  heaven,  and  be  found  faultless  together  in  the 
presence  of  God  with  exceeding  glory. 

My  heart  is  greatly  enlarged  toward  you,  and  I  entreat  that 
you  will  put  up  with  all  my  warnings,  and  all  my  anxieties, 
and  all  my  devoted  earnestness  in  behalf  of  your  best  inter- 
ests. For  myself,  I  have  great  need  of  your  prayers.  May 
they  ascend  often,  and  with  afTectionate  earnestness,  to  the 
throne  of  grace.  Be  assured  that  I  approve  much  of  your 
prudence  and  reserve  in  the  matter  of  your  acquaintances.  I 
trust  that  the  conversation  of  yesterday  will  not  lead  to  any 
precipitate  measures  o-n  your  part.  And,  on  the  other  hand, 
that  a  growing  experience  as  to  the  best  way  of  walking  to 
those  who  are  without,  and  a  growing  strength  and  intrepid- 
ity of  character,  and  last,  though  not  least,  a  growing  aflec- 
tion  for  others  in  the  Christian  and  spiritual  sense  of  the 
term,  will  at  length  enable  you  to  be  of  use  to  some  of  those 
deluded,  unhappy  young  men,  each  of  whom,  let  it  never  be 
forgotten,  has  a  soul  as  unperishable  as  ours,  and  none  of 
whom  are  beyond  the  reach  of  that  grace  which  teaches  and 
enables  us  to  deny  ungodliness  and  worldly  lusts,  and  to  live 
soberly,  righteously,  and  godly  in  the  world.  My  kindest  af- 
fection to  you,  my  very  dear  sir,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  XI. — Mr.  Thomas  Smith  to  Dr.  Chalmers. 

Glasgow,  2d  January^  1816. 
My  dear  Sir — When  we  are  separated  it  is  my  most  agree- 
able employment  to  write  to  you,  and  were  I  once  fairly  em- 
barked in  the  business,  I  know  you  would  have  occasion  rath- 
er to  complain  of  the  frequency  of  my  letters  than  the  want 
of  them. 


30      CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

I  pursued  our  yesterday's  topic  of  consideration  for  a  part 
of  the  day  with  some  success,  but  during  the  greater  part  of 
the  evening  I  was  employed  in  a  manner  contrary  to  the  dis- 
position in  which  we  should  be  employed  at  the  beginning  of 
a  new  period  of  time,  and  I  was  thus  unfitted  for  continuing 
my  beneficial  train  of  thought.  At  this  season  of  the  year  I 
have  been  always  inclining  to  the  desponding  tone  when  I 
think  of  the  small  progress  I  have  made  in  the  different  stud- 
ies in  which  I  am  engaged.  But  I  never,  till  this  time,  felt 
the  disappointment  at  the  past  and  anxiety  for  the  future,  in 
regard  to  my  religious  improvement,  so  strong  as  at  present. 
I  have,  indeed,  felt  something  of  the  kind  formerly,  and  have 
formed  resolutions  of  a  good  tendency,  but  this  feeling  was 
never  very  strong,  of  course  it  was  not  permanent ;  and  the 
resolutions,  I  am  ashamed  to  say,  were  formed  chiefly  in  a 
dependence  on  myself  to  execute  them,  and  thus  made,  you 
well  know,  only  to  be  broken. 

It  is  not  so  with  me  now,  I  hope  ;  my  resolutions,  founded 
on  the  experience  of  the  fate  of  the  past,  are  not  so  extrava- 
gant as  not  to  admit  of  the  probability  of  these  being  execu- 
ted. This  is  well ;  but  I  have  learned  also  from  what  I  have 
already  attempted,  that  in  my  own  strength  I  can  not  accom- 
plish my  desires  ;  that  the  more  my  dependence  is  upon  my- 
self, the  greater  the  certainty  of  my  failure  ;  and  the  more  my 
hope  rests  on  the  assistance  promised  me  from  a  quarter 
where  there  is  no  deceit  or  weakness  to  perform,  the  more  the 
certainty  is  of  my  success.  It  is  on  this  foundation  that  I 
now  look  forM-ard  with  joy  to  the  progress  of  my  Christian 
career,  and  firmly  trust  to  attain  that  standard  of  obedience 
and  high  tone  of  moral  sentiment,  with  the  description  of 
which  you  have  often  delighted  me. 

Yours  very  affectionately,  Thomas  Smith. 

No.  XII. — Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mr.  Thomas  Smith. 

KiLMARDiNNY,  3d  January^  1816. 
My  dear  Sir — You  have  not  yet  arrived  at  an  adequate 


MR.  THOMAS  SMITH.  21 

estimate  of  the  interest  I  take  in  you,  if  you  think  you  can 
either  write  me  too  frequently  or  at  too  great  length. 

You  speak  of  uncongenial  business  or  society  in  the  even- 
ing, which  broke  up  in  some  measure  the  religious  frame  of 
your  mind  on  the  preceding  part  of  the  day.     Now,  mark 
well  that  there  will  be  no  such  interruptions  in  the  Millen- 
nium ;  there  are  none  such  in  a  Moravian  village  at  this  mo- 
ment ;  and  there  would  be  much  fewer  than  there  are  in 
Glasgow  had  we  a   more   extensive  Christian   community. 
The  direct  road  to  this  is  just  to  make  as  many  Christian  in- 
dividuals and  Christian  families  as  we  can  ;  and  in  the  exact 
proportion  of  our  success  shall  we  be  rewarded  by  a  freedom 
from  all  these  temptations  which  the  deadening  and  secular- 
izing influence   of  the  great  majority  of  companies  brings 
along  with  it.     Let  us  ever  keep  by  this  object,  then,  as  our 
great  aim  and  purpose  of  our  lives  here  below,  combining,  at 
the  same  time,  all  that  discretion  and  skill  which  are  neces- 
sary in  the  important  work.     Let  us  pray  for  that  most  de- 
sirable wisdom,  the  wisdom  of  winning  souls — not  forgetting 
that  He  who  says,.  Keep  thyself  pure,  also  says,  Lay  hands  on 
no  man  suddenly  ;  and  taking  care,  at  the  same  time,  never 
to  convert  the  latter  direction  into  a  shelter  for  cowardice,  or 
a  plea  for  denying  Christ  before  men.     Oh,  my  dear  sir,  you 
are  right  to  feel  your  shortcomings,  and  it  is  at  the  same  time 
right  to  strike  the  high  aim  of  being  perfect,  even  as  God  is 
perfect.     It  is  only  wrong  to  conceive  such  a  purpose  in  a  de- 
pendence on  ourselves  ;  but  who  shall  limit  the  power  of  His 
Spirit  \     Who  shall  question  the  provisions  of  the  Gospel  for 
the  accomplishment  of  its  own  avowed  object,  to  redeem  us 
from  all"  iniquity,  and  to  form  us  again  after  the  image  of 
Him  who  created  us  ?      Do  turn  from  the  contemplation  of 
your  own  worthlessness  to  Him  for  whose  sake  God  will  cover, 
as  with  a  cloud,  all  your  past  sins,  and  make  no  more  men- 
tion of  them  ;  and  by  whose  ppwer  resting  upon  you  He  will 
enable  you  to  wing  your  ascending  way  through  the  career 
of  practical  Christianity— He  will  send  a  purifying  influence 


22      CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

into  all  the  services  of"  the  inner  man — He  will  bless  your 
solitude  with  a  sense  of  His  holy  but  reconciled  presence — 
He  will  adorn  your  walk  in  society  with  all  that  is  graceful 
and  honorable — He  will  keep  you  in  thought,  as  well  as  in 
conduct,  undefiled  by  the  sickening  profligacies  of  this  world 
— He  will  work  you  up  to  a  meetness  for  the  inheritance  here- 
after, and  give  you  a  foretaste  of  its  enjoyment  even  here,  by 
mingling  with  all  your  struggles,  and  temptations,  and  diffi- 
culties the  smile  of  an  approving  God — the  radiance  of  au 
anticipated  heaven.  Believe  me  to  be,  my  dear  sir,  yours 
most  affectionately,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  XIII. — Mr.  Thomas  Smith  to  Dr.  Chalmers. 

Glasgow,  3d  January^  1816. 
My  dear  Sir — In  my  note  to  you  of  yesterday  I  mention- 
ed something  of  my  forming  resolutions.  I  have  to-day  been 
thinking  that  it  is  a  dangerous  matter  to  form  resolutions  un- 
less there  is  a  pretty  certain  prospect  of  the  person  who  forms 
being  able  to  accomplish  them.  The  consequence  of  such 
resolutions  as  are  made  without  consideration,  and  soon  tres- 
passed against,  is  to  leave  the  mind  impressed  with  the  facil- 
ity of  destroying  its  best  intentions,  and  in  a  state  to  overleap 
its  most  serious  projects.  I  wish  you  would  say  something 
on  this  subject  when  you  are  at  leisure.  Foster,  in  his  essay 
on  "  Decision  of  Character,"  seems  to  have  neglected  this 
means  of  destroying  the  quality  he  so  strongly  recommends. 
With  much  esteem  and  regard,  I  am,  my  dear  sir,  yours,  &c., 

Thomas  Smith. 

No.  XIV. — Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mr.  Thomas  Smith. 

KiLMARDiNNY,  Ath  January^  1816. 
My  dear  Sir — I  feel  much  interested  in  your  letter  of  yes- 
terday's date,  as  it  touches  on  a  truly  important  subject — that 
of  resolutions.  If  you  simply  mean  by  a  resolution  a  purpose, 
It  should  be  your  purpose  at  this  moment  to  forsake  all  sin 
and  to  attain  all  righteousness — a  purpose  which  can  only 


MR.  THOMAS  SMITH.  23 

be  carried  into  accomplishment  by  prayer  for  the  promised 
aid  believingly  preferred,  and  daily  persevered  in.  But  if  by 
a  resolution  you  understand  a  purpose  accompanied  with  a 
voiv,  this  is  a  matter  of  very  great  caution,  and  postponing  the 
full  discussion  of  it  to  our  personal  interviews,  I  shall  just  ob- 
serve, in  a  hurried  way,  that  there  is  one  set  of  such  resolutions 
which  it  appears  to  me  to  be  safe  and  competent  for  a  man 
to  make  and  to  adhere  to,  and  another  set  which  it  would  be 
extremely  hazardous.  I  shall  illustrate  the  two  sets  by  ex- 
amples :  I  could,  on  a  deliberate  view  of  all  the  effects  on 
my  moral  character  produced  by  attendance  on  the  theatre, 
resolve  to  give  up  that  attendance,  and  keep  by  the  resolu- 
tion. I  could,  on  my  experience  of  its  effects  upon  my  health, 
resolve  never  to  sup  out  at  night,  and  keep  by  that  resolu- 
tion. These  two  cases  represent  a  number  of  others  where  I 
might  resolve  with  success,  and  where  the  kind  of  resolution 
taken  might  be  of  the  utmost  subserviency  either  to  my  tem- 
poral or  eternal  interest. 

But,  again,  I  would  not  resolve  never  to  be  angry.  It  is 
my  wish  to  be  delivered  from  this  work  of  the  flesh  ;  but  1 
think  I  shall  the  better  bring  this  about  by  fearfulness,  and 
watchfulness,  and  humble  persevering  prayer  to  God  in  Christ, 
that  He  would  root  this  evil  thing  out  of  me  more  and  more. 

I  see  symptoms  of  uneasiness  in  your  letter,  which  most 
powerfully  interest  me  in  the  state  of  my  dear  and  much-loved 
friend.  Should  the  uneasiness  be  grounded  on  any  failure  in 
the  first  set  of  resolutions,  which  I  believe  not  to  be  the  case, 
I  would  construe  it  into  the  token  of  a  declension,  from  which 
it  should  be  my  most  strenuous  attempt  to  recover  you. 
Should  it  be  grounded  on  any  failure  in  the  second  set  of  res- 
olutions, then  this  uneasiness  is  an  essential  step  in  the  prog- 
ress of  a  Christian.  You  are  rising  in  your  conceptions  of  the 
spirituality  and  extent  of  the  requirements  that  lie  upon  you  ; 
and  you  are  making  purposes  to  fulfill  them  ;  and  you  are  ex- 
periencing your  own  incompetency  to  the  task  ;  and  God  is 
humbling  you  into  a  closer  dependence  on  the  aids  of  His 


24      CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

grace,  and  on  the  promises  and  provisions  of  His  Gospel. 
Never  let  go  your  aspirings,  but  know  that  you  must  be  shut 
up  unto  Christ,  as  all  your  sanctification  and  strength,  ere  you 
shall  ever  succeed  in  realizing  them.  You  come  short  of  your 
aspirings,  or,  in  other  words,  you  come  short  of  duty  and  con- 
tract guilt.  A  sense  of  this  will  lead  you  daily  to  Christ  for 
forgiveness  ;  and,  going  to  him  on  the  other  errand  of  obtain- 
ing reformation  also  (1  John,  i.,  9),  you  will  make  constant 
progress  in  the  joys  of  the  Christian  faith  and  in  the  dili- 
gence of  the  Christian  practice.  Be  not  restlessly  or  excess- 
ively anxious  ;  and  if  I  have  not  cleared  up  your  difficulties, 
look  forward  to  our  conversations.     Yours,  &c., 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  XV. — Mr.  Thomas  Smith  to  Dr.  Chalmers. 

Glasgow,  5th  January,  1816. 
My  DEAR  Sir — I  am  glad  you  have  said  so  much  of  reso- 
lutions ;  those  which  I  ever  formed  were  not  attended  with 
enough  of  solemnity  in  the  making,  and  thus,  perhaps,  it  is 
that  they  have  been  less  binding,  and  I  have  more  readily 
found  the  means  of  avoiding  them.  I  never  made  a  resolu- 
tion or  purpose,  accompanied  with  the  determination  of  car- 
rying it  into  effect,  and  at  the  same  time  sealed  it  with  a  sol- 
emn vow.  My  resolutions  have  been  made  and  noted  in  my 
journal  ;  I  have  often  the  reading  of  them  to  remind  me  of 
them  ;  I  have  my  prayers  to  God  to  enable  me  to  fulfill  them ; 
and  I  have  the  attempts  which  I  make  to  resist  the  habits 
which  might  lead  me  to  forsake  them  ;  and  to  all  these  com- 
bined I  trust  for  the  accomplishment  of  my  purpose.  As  to 
the  subjects  of  these  purposes,  they  are  such  as  may  be  ac- 
complished by  perseverance  ;  and,  by  the  attention  of  a  few 
weeks,  1  have  sometimes  found  myself  in  a  much  higher  state 
of  obedience  to  God's  will,  in  so  far  as  one  particular  trans- 
gression was  concerned.  These  kind  of  trials  have  been  my 
employment  for  some  time  past ;  but  now  I  have  made  a 
general  determination  to  examine  my  conduct  as  a  whole, 


MR.  THOMAS  SMITH.  25 


composed  of  those  things  I  have  attempted  to  root  out  of  it, 
and  I  find  that,  examining  each  separately,  there  is  a  sad 
want  in  it,  that  I  have  only  reached  the  mere  surface  of  the 
business,  and  in  many  respects  have  remained  satisfied  and 
consoled  that  I  had  done  as  much  as  I  could  accomplish. 
This  has  caused  me  uneasiness,  which  I  am  not  unwilling  to 
sufier  ;  but,  like  a  person  who  knows  his  accounts  are  in  con- 
fusion, examines  them,  and  finds  them  ten  times  worse  than 
he  expected,  so,  though  I  knew  the  examination  might  be 
painful  to  me,  yet  the  extent  to  which  it  has  been  was  never 
calculated  on.  And  it  is  in  this  state  of  the  case  that  I  was 
induced  to  give  way  to  my  resolution  in  some  degree,  although 
its  consequences  might  have  been,  and  still  I  hope  will  be, 
more  productive  of  good  than  any  I  ever  yet  made.  I  do  not 
wish  to  exculpate  myself;  but  since  I  have  told  of  the  un- 
easiness which  the  putting  of  this  resolution  into  effect  as  a 
cause  of  my  in  part  having  relinquished  it,  I  must  also  men- 
tion, that  a  great  deal  of  business,  and  an  anxiety  to  have  it 
finished,  has  operated  heavily  upon  me,  and  withdrawn  my 
mind  from  its  more  serious  occupation.  Yours  most  sin- 
cerely, Thomas  Smith. 

No.  XVI. — Mr.  Thomas  Smith  to  Dr.  Chalmers. 
Stockwell  Street,  January  8th^  1816. 

My  dear  Sir — This  has  been  a  most  pleasant  day  with 
me,  it  brought  so  long  a  letter  from  you — the  longest  I  have 
yet  received  ;*  and  to  procure  another,  I  shall  continue  to 
write  to  you,  trusting  in  my  good  fortune  to  say  something 
which  may  call  forth  an  answer. 

When  I  sit  down  to  write  to  you,  it  is  not  any  thing  I  have 
previously  arranged  and  thought  of  which  forms  the  subject, 
but  merely  the  idea  which  is  uppermost  at  the  moment.  I 
write  to  you  generally  in  the  evening,  when  I  have  leisure  to 
review  the  events  of  the  past  day,  and  it  is  the  impression  of 
this  review  which  is  generally  communicated  to  you.     After 

*  For  this  letter,  see  Dr.  Chalmers's  Memoirs,  vol.  ii.,  p.  30-34. 
V  B 


26      CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

a  quiet,  retired,  and  pleasant  Sabbath,  I  ^nd  its  beneficial  ef- 
fects often  during  the  M'eek,  but  more  especially  on  the  day 
immediately  following  it.  This  has  been  my  condition  to- 
day, confirmed  to  me  by  your  letter,  which  left  me  in  the  ex- 
act state  in  which  I  have  found  myself  after  some  of  our  most 
agreeable  conversations,  and  I  have  enjoyed  this  under  a 
heavy  and  gloomy  atmosphere  such  as  generally  has  a  de- 
pressing effect  upon  my  spirits.  I  have  been  successful  also 
to-day  in  contracting  my  thoughts,  and  bringing  them  to  bear 
on  the  subject  I  chose  from  my  chapter  this  morning  :  "  If  ye 
had  faith  as  a  grain ^of  mustard-seed,"  &c.  ;  and  when  I  am 
successful  in  confining  my  thoughts  to  a  good  scriptural  text, 
it  generally  happens  that  all  goes  smoothly  and  successfully 
along  with  me  ;  and  the  reason  of  this  is  obvious.  Should  a 
man  direct  his  mind  to  a  state  superior  and  independent  of 
this,  it  places  him  high  above  all  the  adverse  fortune  which 
can  beset  him,  and  enables  him  almost  to  rejoice  in  the  midst 
of  it,  while,  on  the  other  hand,  it  allows  him  to  enjoy  as  much 
as  he  possibly  can  the  success  which  may  attend  him.  It 
will  not,  indeed,  permit  him  to  exult  immoderately  ;  were  it 
to  do  so,  he  would  feel  discontented  when  the  novelty  and 
first  charm  of  his  prosperity  wore  off;  but  when  he  enjoys 
the  present  happiness  subordinately  to  a  greater  in  store  for 
him,  then,  should  his  present  joy  be  converted  into  grief,  he 
still  possesses  the  ulterior  prospect,  and  where  his  treasure  is, 
there — bursting  through  the  surrounding  objects — will  his 
heart  be  also.  This  is  a  temporal  reward  which  is  worthy  of 
being  purchased  at  great  expense.  It  is  an  insurance  against 
losses  of  all  kinds,  and  there  is  less  danger  of  failure  on  the 
part  of  the  guarantee  than  in  any  ever  made  on  earth.  Yet 
this  is  only  a  subordinate  and  one  of  the  most  trivial  advant- 
ages afforded  by  the  Christian  religion.  It  is,  indeed,  a  relig- 
ion which  ought  to  be  highly  venerated,  and  an  interest  in  it 
is  to  be  desired  in  preference  to  every  thing  else. 

There  are  several  topics  in  your  letter  of  to-day  which  I 
should  like  to  write  you  about,  but  it  would  branch  out  into 


MR.  THOMAS  SMITH.  27 


a  correspondence  too  extensive  to  be  carried  on  at  present, 
and  must  therefore  be  declined.  I  anticipate  with  much 
pleasure  the  renewal  of  our  personal  interviews,  which  have 
appeared  to  me  far  more  valuable  since  I  have  experienced 
their  absence.  This  will  be  the  last  opportunity  of  my  writ- 
ing to  you  at  Kilmardinny,  as  I  understand  you  return  on 
"Wednesday  ;  until  then,  and  thenceforth,  I  remain,  my  dear 
sir,  yours  very  affectionately,  Tjiomas  Smith. 

No.  XYII. — Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mr.  Thomas  Smith. 

Kilmardinny,  9th  January^  1816. 
My  dear  Sir — Your  letter  received  this  day  forms  a  most 
delightful  finish  to  this  series  of  our  correspondence.  I  could 
have  seen  in  it  the  happy  Christian  frame  of  the  writer,  though 
he  had  not  announced  it  to  me.  In  point  of  expression,  it  is 
free  and  powerful ;  in  point  of  spirit,  it  breathes  a  most  serene 
and  tranquil  elevation.  I  am  charmed  with  the  growing  in- 
telligence it  discovers  on  the  highest  of  all  subjects ;  and, 
above  all,  do  I  inwardly  rejoice  in  observing  that  my  excel- 
lent young  friend  is  realizing  the  peace  and  the  pleasantness 
which  are  to  be  found  even  here  on  that  way  which  leads  to 
the  fehcities  and  the  glories  of  Paradise. 

•Will  you  believe  that,  for  the  last  twenty-four  hours,  I  have 
been  the  victim  of  a  most  distempered  melancholy,  and  that 
you  have  been  the  subject  of  it  ?  I  hesitated  for  some  time 
whether  I  should  reveal  this  to  you,  on  grounds  which  I  shall 
afterward  mention  ;  but  I  have  now  resolved  on  the  clear 
and  simple  maxim  of  keeping  back  from  you  nothing  ;  and 
I  do  find  that  we  have  got  greatly  too  far  on  in  our  intimacy  to 
stop  short  of  the  most  entire,  unbounded,  and  universal  con- 
fidence in  each  other.  The  ground  of  my  disquietude  was  an 
expression  in  your  note  of  the  5th,  probably  ill  understood  by 
me,  and  which  I  shall  explain  more  fully  to  you  at  meeting. 
All  I  shall  say  further  about  it  at  present  is,  that  your  note, 
received  this  evening,  has  chased  from  my  agitated  bosom  all 
its  fears  and  all  its  anxieties  ;  and  it  is  with  tears  of  grati- 


28      CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

tude  and  delight  that  I  acknowledge  how  much  I  have  been 
reassured  and  comforted  by  your  kind  communication. 

My  dear  sir,  you  may  think  all  this  extravagant,  but  it  can 
be  accounted  for.  You  are,  in  one  sense,  the  child  of  my  anx- 
ious efibrts  to  consolidate  and  Christianize  you.  I  have  not 
the  vanity  to  think  that  I  began  the  work  ;  but  the  work  has 
made  progress  since  I  ku  'W  you,  and  I  have  conceived  a  deep 
interest  in  all  its  steps.  I  do  not  know  one  single  dispensa- 
tion that  would  more  imbitter  my  heart  than  that  the  work 
should  retrograde.  I  would  feel  all  the  grief  of  a  bereaved  par- 
ent ;  it  would  spread  a  sad  desolation  over  my  spirits ;  it  would 
be  the  crudest  of  all  violence  to  my  affections  for  one,  whom 
I  trust  I  shall  long  hold  sweet  counsel  with  on  earth,  and  re- 
joice with  in  heaven.  Such  is  the  state  of  my  feelings  to- 
ward you,  and  I  hope  that  it  both  explains  and  apologizes  for 
my  extreme  watchfulness  over  you — a  watchfulness  which  I 
have  sometimes  feared  you  would  dislike  as  obtrusive,  and 
suspicious,  and  troublesome.  0,  my  dearest  of  all  earthly  as- 
sociates, had  the  happiness  of  our  meeting  been  without  al- 
loy, it  would  have  been  too  much  for  earth  ;  but  the  malig- 
nant tempter,  whose  power  you  so  firmly  recognize,  has 
thrown  a  mixture  of  bitterness  into  it  ;  he  has  tried  to  turn 
the  whole  to  anguish  by  raising  before  my  fancy  the  glowing 
image  of  your  apostasy.  Your  kind  epistle  has  cleared  it 
away,  and  I  now  enjoy  a  precious  interval  of  repose.  All  is 
hushed  and  tranquilized  within  me,  and  T  now  write  from  the 
fullness  of  a  heart  which  feels  no  fear  and  harbors  no  suspicion. 
Yours  ever,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  XVIII. — Mr.  Thomas  SSmith  to  Dr.  Chalmers. 

Glasgow,  9th  January^  1816. 
My  dear  Sir — I  received  your  letter  of  yesterday's  date, 
and  though  I  expect  to  meet  you  to-morrow,  I  shall  take  this 
method  of  answering  a  question  proposed  in  it,  which  I  see 
has  arisen  from  a  most  stupid,  confused  note  of  mine  of  the 
5th  current. 


MR.  THOMAS  SMITH. 


I  made  a  general  determination  at  the  beginning  of  this 

year  strictly  to  exanwne  the  state  of  my  mind.     I  did  so 

found  it  so  far  below  my  expectation,  that  it  affected  my  spir- 
its so  much  as  to  make  me  give  up  the  examination,  and  thus 
to  transgress  my  determination  or  resolution.  This,  as  far  as 
I  can  make  out,  is  what  my  note  of  the  5th  would  say,  but 
seems  ashamed,  as  no  doubt  there  is  reason  to  be,  of  the 
avowal. 

You  may  be  thinking  that  I  shall  thus  be  diverted  from  my 
attempt.  But  this  is  not  the  case,  for  I  have  since  resumed 
my  review,  and  am  at  present  going  on  successfully  with  it. 

What  I  would  desire  at  present  is  to  know  what  are  the 
errors  which  I  am  most  likely  to  fall  into,  and  to  apply  my- 
self to  the  business  of  their  extermination  one  by  one.  When 
this  is  accomplished,  I  shall  cultivate  the  virtues  which  ought 
to  exist  in  their  stead,  and  the  bringing  these  virtues  to  per- 
fection will  form  the  business  of  a  whole  life,  and  at  its  close, 
though  the  comfort  of  having  succeeded  in  the  attempt  will 
not  be  enjoyed,  yet  the  consolation  of  having  seriously  made 
the  trial  will  supply  its  stead.  There  is  nothing  I  so  much 
delight  in  as  in  the  idea  of  a  character  refined  and  ennobled 
by  a  M^hole  life's  attention  to  the  business.  Such  a  character 
would,  in  all  probability,  enjoy  more  happiness  and  peace  of 
mind  than  any  attainments  in  science  could  afford.  It  is  a 
discouraging  fact,  however,  that  there  is  not  one  in  thousands 
who  can  boast  such  a  treasure — -the  road  to  it  is  exceedingly 
unfavorable  to  those  who  have  only  for  a  short  time  traveled 
on  it,  and  to  people  surrounded  by  others  of  different  opinions 
about  the  reward  to  be  attained,  or  who  pursue  a  quite  con- 
trary course,  the  temptations  to  deviate  are  innumerable. 
Man,  by  his  own  strength?  can  not  conquer  them  ;  but,  by  de- 
pendence on  another's,  he  undoubtedly  can,  ajud  may  realize 
a  finer  and  purer  mind  than  the  ancients  ever  thought  of 
From  the  knowledge  of  Cowper,  which  his  life  and  writings 
give,  I  think  he  had  attained  this  character  ;  but  it  is  not  in 
a  man  who  is  well  known  to  the  public,  and  whose  writings 


30      CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

are  made  with  the  view  of  pleasing  them — nor  in  any  public 
character  whose  life  is  hai.ded  down  to  us — that  I  would  be 
inclined  to  expect  these  virtues,  but  rather  in  private  char- 
acters, who  are  only  known  to  a  few  around  them,  and  by 
whose  example  the  world  in  general  are  never  benefited. 

But,  my  dear  sir,  I  must  earnestly  beg  of  you  to  excuse  all 
the  deficiencies  of  my  last  week's  correspondence.  Most  of 
my  letters  were  written  in  the  evening  when  I  was  very  tired, 
and  all  of  them  hurriedly.  It  was  with  a  view  to  obtain  an- 
swers in  return,  and  in  compliance  to  your  request,  that  they 
were  sent  to  you.  Amid  all  my  faults,  I  shall  always  be 
yours  most  affectionately,  Thomas  Smith. 

No.  XIX. — Mr.  Thomas  Smith  to  Dr.  Chalmers. 
Glasgow,  20th  January,  1816. 
My  dear  Sir — I  do  not  intend  in  this  letter  to  say  any 
thing,  either  on  one  side  or  the  other,  regarding  assemblies  for 
dancing — the  subject  of  our  late  conversations.  I  think  it  bet- 
ter that  you  should  begin  the  subject,  and  that  I  attend  you 
as  you  prosecute  it,  and  unreservedly  give  you  any  objections 
which  may  remain  with  me  after  the  perusal  of  your  letters. 
And  of  this  freedom  of  remark  I  request  you  will  allow  me 
the  unlimited  use  ;  for  should  I  be  only  half  convinced  of  the 
danger  of  attending  these  parties,  if  it  turns  out  they  are  dan- 
gerous, it  might  be  a  matter  of  afterthought  and  deliberation 
whether  the  restriction  had  been  properly  adopted  ;  and  on  a 
tempting  invitation  being  presented,  more  reasons  might  ap- 
pear in  favor  of  the  restrictions  being  injudicious.  Thus 
swayed,  I  might  overturn  all  my  more  impartial  thoughts  on 
the  subject,  and  commence  imperceptibly  the  business  of  un- 
dermining a  proper  system  of  self  denial,  which  I  intend  shall 
be  considerately  and  judiciously  planned,  and  as  resolutely 
and  perseveringly  adhered  to.  A  few  days  ago  we  talked  of 
the  frankness  which  ought  to  subsist  among  friends  ;  and  I 
think  you  were  disposed  to  blame  me  for  a  want  of  it.  If  1 
possess  a  reserved  temper,  I  am  equally  insensible  of  it  as  of 


MR.  THOMAS  SMITH.  31 


many  of  my  other  faults  ;  and  in  our  written  correspondence, 
I  hope  you  will  soon  perceive  that  all  reserve  is  banished, 
and  that  you  receive  my  sentiments  upon  any  subject  which 
comes  in  our  way  exactly  as  they  exist,  and  to  the  whole  ex- 
tent of  their  existence.  I  sometimes  am  disposed  to  be  very 
silent  in  our  conversations,  and  this  most  probably  has  given 
the  appearance  of  reserve  to  my  conduct ;  but  this  silence  is 
of  a  very  different  origin  indeed,  and  I  blame  you  for  its  ex- 
istence. 

Our  regular  weekly  correspondence,  I  think,  will  be  produc- 
tive of  much  advantage.  One  thing  has  just  now  occurred 
to  me  which  well  demonstrates  this  :  Should  I,  when  in  some 
unguarded  time,  be  induced  to  think  favorably  of  any  amuse- 
ment which  we  have  in  a  proper  season  examined  and  con- 
demned, from  the  mere  circumstance  of  having  your  reasons 
stated  in  writing  to  recur  to,  I  shall  examine  what  formerly 
caused  me  to  renounce  the  favorite  object,  and  the  result  of 
the  examination  will  be  to  set  me  right  and  establish  me  in 
the  path  chalked  out.  I  am,  my  dear  sir,  yours  with  much 
affection,  Thomas  Smith. 

No.  XX. — Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mr.  Thomas  Smith. 

20th  January,  1816. 

My  dear  Sir — In  answer  to  your  much  esteemed  note  of 
this  day,  I  have  to  observe  that  I  do  not  mean  at  present  to 
enter  into  the  question  of  assemblies  for  dancing,  but  shall 
satisfy  myself  with  a  few  prefatory  remarks.  I  am  quite  as- 
sured that,  if  you  saw  it  to  be  against  your  Christian  interest, 
you  would  surrender  every  one  inducement  you  have  at  pres- 
ent to  attend  them,  and  keep  studiously  and  determinedly 
away  from  them  altogether.  I  am  further  assured  that,  could 
I  prove  it  to  be  as  much  your  duty  to  keep  away  from  them, 
did  they  expose  these  interests  to  the  hazard,  though  not  to 
the  certainty  of  being  injured,  you  would  be  as  obedient  to 
the  second  demonstration  of  duty  as  to  the  first. 

In  a  word,  I  presume  (and  it  is  with  the  most  unfeigned 


32      CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

pleasure,  and  a  heart  filled  with  affection,  that  I  can  declare, 
from  all  that  I  have  observed  in  you,  how  I  look  on  the  pre- 
sumption as  one  of  the  surest  and  strongest  I  ever  conceived 
on  any  subject)  that,  should  you  see  it  to  be  your  duty,  either 
on  the  first  ground  or  on  the  second,  to  refrain  irom  going  to 
assemblies,  you  would  not  hesitate  a  single  moment  to  put 
the  principle  of  forsaking  all  into  effect,  and  bring  your  habit 
of  general  carefulness  to  offend  in  no  point  whatever  to  bear 
on  this  one  point  which  we  have  now  selected  for  considera- 
tion. 

And  now,  my  dear  sir,  there  is  even  at  this  stage  of  the 
business  a  way  in  which  this  great  initiatory  principle  of  the 
Christian  life  may  be  put  into  exercise.  As  you  would  for- 
sake all  in  the  way  of  shunning  what  you  knew  to  be  sinful, 
so  you  may  be  in  readiness  to  forsake  all  whenever  what  is 
more  doubtful  shall  be  proved  to  be  sinful.  In  this  state  of 
readiness,  which  it  is  competent  for  you  at  this  moment  to 
put  on,  you  will,  I  am  persuaded,  resolve  against,  and  strive 
against,  and  pray  against  all  partiaUty  and  all  hypocrisy  :  it 
will  be  the  language  of  your  heart,  "  Lord,  teach  me  thy  way, 
that  I  may  walk  in  it."  Cleanse  Thou  me  from  the  secret 
fault  of  all  unfair  leaning,  and  all  willful  self-deceit.  Let 
me  clearly  see  thy  will  and  hear  thy  voice  ;  and  here  I  am  in 
the  attitude  of  a  servant  to  obey  thy  orders,  and  be  found  at 
the  post  thou  art  pleased  to  assign  to  me.  It  is  my  business, 
also,  to  be  most  careful  in  this  matter  :  woe  be  unto  me  if 
I  willfully  mislead  you.  It  is  my  prayer,  my  dearest  of  all 
earthly  friends,  that  much  comfort  and  direction  may  be  given 
to  us  in  this  correspondence.  It  may  strike  out  much  of  what 
we  are  not  'at  present  anticipating.  It  may  branch  into  many 
a  devious  but  important  track  of  inquiry  ;  and  I  trust  that, 
walking  together  as  friends  over  the  field  of  Divine  truth,  we 
shall  end  our  every  excursion  with  some  new  spoils  of  heaven- 
ly doctrine  to  enrich,  and  comfort,  and  adorn  us.  May  God 
prosper  us  in  this  enterprise  ;  may  He  smile  propitious  on  our 
every  attempt  to  find  out  His  will  for  our  salvation  ;  and  may 


MR.  THOMAS  SMITH. 


the  great  and  ultimate  results  of  all  our  converse  here  be  a 
common  mansion  in  that  country  of  perfect  blessedness,  where 
there  is  no  sorrow  and  no  separation.  Yours  most  affection- 
ately, Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  XXI. — Mr.  Thomas  Smith  to  Dr.  Chalmers. 

Glasgow,  23c?  January,  1816. 

My  dear  Sir — I  shall  still  delay  entering  upon  any  thing 
which  immediately  concerns  the  question  of  the  effect  of  a 
dancing  assembly  upon  a  Christian  character. 

In  your  note  you  mention  you  are  quite  assured  that  if  I 
saw  it  to  be  against  my  Christian  interests  I  would  not  go  ; 
and  even  go  so  far  as  to  say  that,  were  they  to  place  these 
interests  even  in  a  hazardous  situation,  I  would  be  obedient 
to  this  second  call  of  duty.  This  is  saying  a  good  deal,  and 
to  acquiesce  complacently  in  it  would  be  going  farther  than, 
from  the  limited  knowledge  I  have  of  the  true  state  of  my 
mind,  would  be  allowable. 

To  bring  my  mind  to  this  subject  totally  free  of  any  bias 
to  the  one  side  or  other,  it  would  require  some  little  time 
to  consider  the  value  of  the  recompense  which  I  place  at 
stake  by  acting  in  such  a  way  as  my  long-established  feelings 
on  the  subject  would  induce  me.  Surrounded  by  all  the 
amusements  and  gayeties  of  life,  I  have  considered  them  more 
in  relation  to  the  delight  they  afforded,  than  their  consistency 
with  the  laws  of  Heaven  and  my  own  permanent  happiness. 
But,  though  surrounded  on  every  side  by  a  God  and  the  ob- 
jects of  His  creation,  I  had  almost  forgotten  the  Mighty  Being 
from  whose  presence  there  is  no  escaping  ;  and  the  objects  of 
His  creation,  long  looked  upon  merely  in  reference  to  them- 
selves, have  failed  to  sugg-est  the  remembrance  of  their  invis- 
ible Creator.  In  such  a  situation  and  circumstances,  I  can 
not  bring  my  judgment  to  an  impartial  determination  on  the 
subject.  But  this  need  not  prevent  a  determination  being 
adopted,  which,  if  it  is  a  just  one,  must  lean  to  the  side  against 
which  my  prejudices  have  hitherto  been  directed.      T  .'^ee  the 

B  2 


34  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS 

necessity  of  this  ;  and  perhaps,  were  I  to  act  prudently,  I 
would  renounce  the  whole  business  from  this  moment.  This 
would  be  right  in  the  mean  time  ;  but  the  great  obstacle  to 
this,  which,  I  think,  however  much  to  be  dreaded,  should  al- 
ways be  kept  in  view,  is  the  danger  of  a  relapse  into  such  a 
frame  of  mind  as  may  dispose  the  person  who  made  his  reso- 
lutions of  doing  good  to  reject  the  grounds  on  which  they  are 
founded.  It  is  of  great  importance  in  this  event  that  these 
grounds  be  multiplied  and  embraced  into  a  general  and  com- 
prehensive rule  of  action.  A^nd  that,  however  trivial  any  ob- 
jection may  be  considered  at  present,  it  is  of  consequence  that 
they  should  all  be  brought  forward,  that  there  may  be  no  lurk- 
ing seed  of  corruption  which  may  spring  up  in  the  hour  of 
temptation. 

In  the  course  of  our  correspondence  upon  this  subject, 
whenever  you  discover  in  me  an  inordinate  desire  to  question 
any  thing  you  advance,  I  beg  you  will  look  upon  it  as  arising 
from  the  reasons  I  have  above  alluded  to.  From  these  rea- 
sons I  really  believe  that  any  objections  which  I  shall  make 
will  arise,  and  not  from  a  desire  to  mix  in  any  company  dan- 
gerous to  the  principles  which  I  am  so  desirous,  for  the  most 
weighty  reasons,  to  encourage  the  growth  of,  and  to  preserve 
them  in  a  state  of  increasing  strength  and  beauty,  till  death 
shall  deprive  the  mind  in  which  they  exist  of  its  earthly  hab- 
itation. 

My  dear  sir,  in  this  matter  we  have  entered  upon  there  is 
much  reason  to  pray  to  Him  whose  honor  it  concerns,  that  He 
would  give  us  a  distinct  view  of  the  case,  that  the  judgment 
we  form  may  be  such  as  we  shall  have  cause  never  to  be 
ashamed  of.     I  remain,  my  dear  sir,  yours  very  sincerely, 

Thomas  Smith. 

No.  XXII. — Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mr.  Thomas  Smith. 
Charlotte  Street,  2ith  January,  1816. 
My  dearest  Sir — I  would  hurry  at  once  into  the  subject 
did  I  not  feel  that  our  system  of  correspondence  admitted  of 


MR.  THOMAS  SMITH.  35 


that  free  and  excursive  method  which  can  stop,  and  deviate 
and  be  arrested  by  any  one  point  that  happens  to  be  started 
in  the  course  either  of  our  writing  or  our  talking  communica- 
tions ;  and  you  will  not,  I  trust,  feel  impatient  though  I  should 
still  be  lingering  among  the  preliminaries  of  our  argument. 
May  God  keep  you  in  health  and  prolong  our  stay  here,  if  it 
so  please  Him,  that  our  notes  may  swell  out  to  thousands  and 
thousands  more  ;  and  praying,  as  I  do,  that  He  may  give  each 
of  us  a  single  eye  to  His  glory,  and  fill  our  understandings 
with  the  light  of  His  blessed  Spirit.  I  trust  that  much  in- 
teresting matter  and  much  consoling  and  edifying  remark 
may  pass  through  each  of  our  hands.  You  tell  me  it  is  say- 
ing a  good  deal  to  say  that  you  would  not  willfully  do  a  thing 
which  put  your  religious  interests  to  hazard.  It  were  surely 
not  saying  too  much  of  a  man,  whose  ruling  principle  it  was 
to  keep  entire  the  property  of  his  word,  to  say  of  him  that  he 
would  not  willfully  put  that  property  to  hazard.  It  is  not 
saying  too  much  of  a  mother,  whose  honest  anxiety  is  for  the 
health  of  her  child,  to  say  that  she  would  not  willfully  put 
that  health  to  any  hazard.  It  is  not  saying  too  much  for  your 
friend,  whose  earnest  aspiring  is  after  the  purity  and  integrity 
of  your  religious  character,  to  say  that  he  would  not  willfully 
put  you  into  a  situation  which  hazarded  that  character.  And 
if  for  your  friend  you  just  substitute  yourself,  be  it  your  ear- 
nest aspiring  to  keep  entire  and  to  advance  the  reign  of  Chris- 
tian principle  within  you,  then,  I  say,  what  is  not  less  evident 
than  in  the  three  first  examples,  that  you  would  not  willfully 
put  to  hazard  your  Christian  interests. 

I  suspect,  my  dear  sir,  when  you  hesitate  about  pronounc- 
ing on  yourself  in  this  matter,  you  complicate  the  matter  by 
the  doubtfulness  which  still  exists  in  you  about  the  particu- 
lar question  that  is  between  us.  But,  conceive  that  doubt- 
fulness done  away — conceive  it  clearly  made  out  that  the  act 
of  spending  some  hours  at  an  assembly  for  dancing  carried 
along  with  it  the  chance  of  one  to  two,  or  one  to  ten,  or  one 
to  a  hundred,  that  you  come  away  a  worse  man  and  a  worse 


36      CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

Christian  than  when  you  went,  then  I  mistake  my  dear  friend 
altogether  if  I  conceive  that,  upon  such  a  hazard  being  at- 
tached to  such  a  big  and  momentous  interest,  he  would  not 
resolve  to  shun  the  temptation  altogether,  and  class  this  en- 
joyment among  the  all  things  which,  in  the  act  of  taking  to 
the  path  of  his  eternal  interests,  a  disciple  of  Jesus  is  bound 
to  forsake. 

I  do  not  look  on  this  note  as  lost  to  the  question.  I  mean 
to  sift  it  thoroughly,  and  am  sure  that  it  will  open  up  some 
deeply  interesting  traits  of  Christian  speculation.  But  still  it 
will  be  the  power,  not  so  much  of  argument  as  of  simple  prin- 
ciple acting  on  a  single,  and  affectionate,  and  impressed  heart, 
that  will  carry  the  question  to  its  practical  conclusion.  It  is 
the  darkness  of  our  depraved  wills  and  of  our  entangled  affec- 
tions that  makes  it  so  difficult  to  pull  down  the  strongholds 
of  obstinacy  within  us.  I  speak  of  the  general  nature  of  man 
— for  of  you  I  have  nothing  to  say  but  all  that  is  kind,  and 
tender,  and  respectful ;  and  I  have  to  crave  of  you,  my  dearest 
sir,  that  you  will  look  again  at  this  matter,  and  tell  me  wheth- 
er you  ought  to  run  your  Christianity  in  the  way  of  a  clear- 
ly made  out  hazard  ;  and  if  you  say  you  ought  not,  would  you 
willfully,  and  knowingly,  and  by  a  self-originating  and  delib- 
erative step,  do  that  which  you  ought  not  to  do  ? 

I  hope  I  shall  be  able  to  advance  some  way  into  the  argu- 
ment next  week — but  much  is  to  be  done  for  a  clear  outset — 
and,  in  the  mean  time,  I  am  highly  gratified  by  the  conclu- 
sion of  your  much  valued  and  most  interesting  note.  Oh,  that 
we  were  more  in  the  habit  of  carrying  all  our  doubts,  and  of 
committing  all  our  ways,  and  of  subordinating  all  our  wishes 
to  that  Father  who  is  in  heaven,  and  whose  yoke  is  easy — 
not  because  He  permits  any  relaxation,  which  is  merely  of  an 
earthly  nature,  but  because  He  gives  a  peace  which  passeth 
understanding,  and  sheds  an  animating  glory  over  the  whole 
life  of  him  who  is  devoted  to  the  will  of  God  in  all  His  works 
and  in  all  His  ways. 

Yours  with  the  utmost  regard,  Thomas  Chalmers. 


MR.  THOMAS  SMITH.  37 


No.  XXIII. — Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mr.  Thomas  Smith. 
Charlotte  Street,  2Sth  January,  1816. 

My  dear  Sir — I  know  well  that  it  is  a  less  trial  of  deli- 
cacy to  talk  on  religious  opinions  than  to  talk  on  religious  feel- 
ings, and  the  same  is  true  of  writing.  I  have  not  heard 
whether  my  last  Sabbath's  attempt  was  approved  of  by  my 
dearest  friend  ;^  but  I  shall  make  a  second  similar  attempt 
this  evening,  and  shall  only  add  at  present  that,  though  I 
should  not  be  surprised  at  your  not  answering  me  in  kind,  yet 
I  would  be  highly  pleased  if  you  did  so  answer  me  ;  and  I 
trust  that  the  day  is  coming  when  not  one  barrier  shall  stand 
in  the  way  of  that  full  communion  of  soul,  which  I  long  to  be 
more  and  more  established  between  us  in  what  remains  of  our 
earthly  intercourse. 

My  prayer,  then,  for  you  in  particular  is,  that  your  health 
may  be  firmly  restored — that  you  may,  for  many  years,  see 
much  of  the  goodness  of  the  Lord  in  the  land  of  the  living — 
that  you  may  get  as  much  prosperity  as  you  will  feel  inclined 
to  employ  to  the  entire  honor  of  Him  who  gives  it — and  may 
meet  with  as  much  adversity  as  is  necessary  to  refine  and 
exalt  your  affections  away  from  the  vanities  of  a  treacherous 
world.  I  pray  particularly  that  God  might  purge  away  from 
your  bosom  every  one  reservation  you  might  be  disposed  to 
make  upon  the  integrity  of  His  right  to  all  your  substance 
and  to  all  your  services — that  not  one  taint  of  that  conform- 
ity to  the  world,  which  He  bids  you  abstain  from,  might  re- 
main upon  your  character — that,  with  a  noble  consistency  of 
principle,  you  might  be  enabled  to  make  one  entire  surrender 
of  all  you  have  and  all  you  are  to  His  entire  claim  of  author- 
ity over  you — that  all  that  friendship  of  the  woi  Id,  which  is 
enmity  against  God,  may  be  renounced  by  you  as  a  fair  but 
ruinous  temptation — and  all  that  love  of  the  world,  which  is 
opposite  to  the  love  of  the  Father,  may  be  extirpated  in  its 
very  least  degrees  and  remainders  from  your  soul. 
*  See  Dr.  Chalmers's  Memoirs,  vol.  ii.,  p.  34,  35. 


38  CORRESPOxNDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

And  while  I  thus  pray,  with  all  the  fervency  of  a  most 
longing  and  affectionate  regard  for  you  that  you  may  never, 
never  be  brought  under  the  power  of  those  entanglements 
which  would  make  the  latter  end  worse  than  the  beginning, 
it  would  be  to  me  a  high  matter  of  gratitude  to  God  that  He 
speedily  accomplished  upon  you  the  promise  of  all  that  peace, 
and  all  that  pleasantness,  and  all  that  respect  and  acknowl- 
edgment even  from  those  who  at  first  were  gainsayers,  which 
are  generally  found  to  succeed  the  first  victories  of  the  aspir- 
ing Christian  over  the  trials  which  thicken  around  him  at 
the  outset  of  his  career. 

My  prayer  extends  from  yourself  to  your  relations,  all  of 
whom  I  love.  May  God  prolong  the  life  of  your  brother,  and 
bear  up  the  weight  of  your  father's  old  age.  May  Miss  Smith 
be  a  distinguished  ornament  to  her  family  ;  and  may  all  the 
graces  of  the  Spirit  form  upon  her  into  one  lovely  assemblage. 

In  reference  to  the  tenderness  which  I  feel  for  you,  and 
which  it  delights  me  to  think  is  not  without  a  kind  return 
of  good- will  on  your  part,  I  pray  that  God  would  subordinate 
the  whole  of  this  unlooked-for  intimacy  to  His  own  will  and 
His  own  glory.  May  he  root  out  all  that  is  idolatrous — all 
that  would  occupy  his  own  place  in  our  heart — all  that  would 
offer  to  depose  duty  from  its  lawful  demand  on  our  time,  on 
our  attention,  on  our  talent.  May  he  enable  me,  in  particu- 
lar, to  introduce  a  little  more  self-government  into  this  affec- 
tion, that  it  might  not  run  away  with  me — that  it  might  not 
distress  me  by  vain  and  needless  anxieties — that  it  might  not 
make  me  too  obtrusive  of  my  own  will,  or  my  own  way,  or 
him  who  is  the  object  of  it — that  I  might  be  preserved  from 
saying  any  thing  which  may  make  my  brother  to  offend — 
that  I  may,  at  all  times,  be  enabled  to  acquit  myself  with  wis- 
dom— and  that,  as  you  occupy  by  far  the  highest  place  in  the 
scale  of  my  earthly  friendship,  the  union  might  be  perfected 
in  Heaven,  and  we  be  found  faultless  in  the  presence  of  God 
and  before  the  throne  of  His  glory.  My  dear  sir,  yours  most 
affectionately,  Thomas  Chalmers. 


i\IR.  THOMAS  SMITH.  39 


No.  XXIV. — Mr.  Thomas  Smith  to  Dr.  Chalmers. 

Glasgow,  31st  January,  1816. 

My  dear  Sir — Your  letter  goes  upon  a  wrong  track  when 
it  supposes  me  to  have  said  in  mine,  that,  were  the  propriety 
of  dancing  assemblies  doubtful,  I  would  hesitate  about  relin- 
quishing all  thoughts  of  attending  them.  I  merely  meant 
you  to  understand  that  I  might  be  so  influenced  by  allure- 
ments to  go  to  them,  that  their  true  hurtful  effects  upon  the 
character  might  be  obscured,  and  that  thus  misled  I  could 
go  to  the  assemblies,  though  the  effect  might  be  dangerous. 
My  intention  in  saying  this  was  to  put  you  in  fair  possession 
of  the  knowledge  that  those  allurements  did  exist,  and  that 
you  might  be  enabled  to  write  more  to  the  purpose,  by  guard- 
ing me  against  any  influence  of  this  kind.  And  I  feel  no 
hesitation  in  saying  that  I  shall  not  go  to  these  companies 
if  I  am  persuaded  there  is  any  thing  of  even  a  doubtful  ap- 
pearance about  their  propriety. 

At  this  moment  I  am  neither  more  nor  less  decided  on  this 
subject  than  when  it  was  first  started.  I  am  placed,  in  one 
respect,  in  a  better  situation  than  I  was  then.  I  have  un- 
dertaken carefully  to  examine  the  different  grounds  of  the 
reasons  why  I  either  should  go  or  not,  as  they  concern  a  Chris- 
tian life,  and  by  the  result  of  this  examination  I  am  resolved 
to  be  guided. 

The  difficult  matter  appears  to  be  how  to  judge  of  the 
merits  of  the  case.  Many  go  to  these  assemblies  who  possess 
the  best  characters,  and  rank  among  the  most  religious  in 
town ;  and  many  do  not  go  to  them  from  reason  of  their  hurt- 
ful influence  upon  the  character,  and  this  latter  class  are  at 
least  as  far  advanced  in  Christian  attainments  as  the  former. 
If  we  are  to  form  an  opinion  of  the  propriety  of  these  parties 
from  the  attendance  or  absence  of  the  people  accounted  relig- 
ious around  us,  I  think  it  would  just  land  us  in  the  doubtful 
point.  This  is  what  I  most  anxiously  wish  to  avoid  ;  and 
for  other  reasons  it  would  certainly  be  much  better  that  this, 


40      CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

and  any  other  question  of  the  same  kind,  was  decided  on  oth- 
er principles  than  the  example  of  the  world.  Its  customs 
and  morals  vary  with  every  generation  ;  and  if  we  consider 
that  though  we  are  blinded  by  the  example  of  others  to  do 
good  or  evil,  yet  we  shall  be  judged  and  receive  our  sentence 
according  to  the  true  nature  of  our  actions;  whether  done  in 
concert  with  our  neighbors  or  not,  we  shall  find  no  great  rea- 
son to  rest  satisfied  with  our  conduct  merely  because  that  of 
others  is  the  same.     Yours  with  much  affection, 

Thomas  Smith. 

No.  XXV. — Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mr.  Thomas  Smith. 

Charlotte  Street,  6th  February,  1816. 
My  very  dear  Sir — You  may  think  it  strange  that  pre- 
vious to  discussing  the  effects  of  dancing  assemblies  on  your 
own  mind,  I  should  resort,  as  my  first  argument  against  them, 
to  the  pernicious  effect  of  your  example  on  the  minds  of  oth- 
ers. I  do  it  for  a  reason  which  will  afterward  evolve  itself; 
and  I  come  direct  to  the  assertion,  that  within  the  limits  of 
such  a  room  the  ears  of  the  young  are  exposed  to  improper 
conversation  ;  opportunities  are  afforded  them  of  beginning 
and  of  perfecting  improper  intimacies  ;  occasions  of  sin  are 
multiplied  ;  actual  parties  may  be  formed  for  the  commission 
of  wickedness  ;  and  whether  the  young,  in  whose  behalf  I  am 
anxious  to  perpetuate  the  preventive  system,  be  actually 
drawn  into  such  parties  or  not,  at  all  events  their  delicate  ab- 
horrence of  evil  is  blunted,  and  the  safeguard  of  that  natural 
and  instinctive  repugnance  which  forms  the  defense  of  youth, 
and  which,  to  my  eye,  constitutes  its  finest  and  its  loveliest 
ornament,  is  enfeebled  by  the  rudeness  of  such  an  exposure. 
Now,  my  dear  sir,  it  is  possible  for  a  family  party  to  keep  all 
its  members  together  ;  but  why  go  to  a  place  were  a  vigilant 
and  fearful  anxiety  of  this  kind  is  necessary  ?  But,  in  point 
of  fact,  this  vigilance  is  not  kept.  Young  men  of  decent  fam- 
ilies are  at  liberty  to  expatiate  over  the  whole  surface  of  the 
room  that  contains  them,  and  I  aver  it,  on  what  I  have  learn- 


MR.  THOMAS  SMITH.  41 


ed  both  from  yourself  and  others,  that  this  liberty  can  not  be 
taken  without  such  exposures  as  serve  to  harden  and  famil- 
iarize them  with  what  is  gross  ;  or,  in  other  words,  they  are 
in  a  far  more  direct  way,  by  being  at  an  assembly,  to  corrup- 
tion, both  of  principle  and  of  practice,  than  if  at  home  they 
were  surrounded  with  the  salutary  influence  of  affectionate 
parents,  and  delicate  sisters,  and  sober  family  habits,  and  re- 
ligious converse,  mixed  up  with  the  judicious  tempering  of 
cheerful  society,  by  intercourse  among  congenial  neighbors,  a 
varied  and  improving  reading,  or  the  vigorous  prosecution  of 
some  great  acquirement  in  knowledge,  or  any  thing  else  that 
can  make  home  agreeable,  and  harmonizes  with  the  virtue 
and  the  sober-mindedness  of  a  character  still  untainted  by  the 
profligacies  of  a  world  lying  in  wickedness. 

Now,  it  is  not  enough  that  you  say  I  would  never  leave 
my  party — I  would  never  go  among  the  half-intoxicated  ac- 
quaintances I  have  at  the  other  end  of  the  room  ;  or,  even  if 
I  did,  I  would  not  be  influenced  by  any  example  of  theirs. 
"What  you  would  not  suffer  from  all  this  others  would,  and 
you,  by  your  presence,  have  sanctioned  an  avenue  of  inter- 
course between  the  corrupt  and  the  untainted — have  leveled 
one  barrier  of  defense  between  the  purity  of  domestic  and  the 
danger  of  general  society — have  multiplied  the  points  of  con- 
tact between  the  younger  and  the  older  in  wickedness — and 
have  contributed  your  share  to  the  general  amount  of  that 
mischief  which  results  from  the  letting  in  of  a  worldly  influ- 
ence on  minds  not  yet  trained  to  the  darkness  and  deceitful- 
nress  of  the  world's  ways.  More  of  this  in  my  next.  Yours 
most  affectionately,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  XXVI. — Mr.  Thomas  Smith  to  Dr.  Chalmers. 
Stockwell  Street,  8^^  February^  1816. 

My  dear  Sir — Your  note  has  afforded  me  great  satisfac- 
tion. I  think  it  has  begun  a  revolution  in  my  sentiments  of 
the  consequences  which  arise  from  attending  assemblies. 

All  along  I  have  considered  the  propriety  of  my  attending 


42      CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

them  almost  exclusively  as  it  was  calculated  to  affect  myself, 
and  I  have  paid  very  little  attention  to  the  effect  my  attend- 
ance might  have  upon  others.  Your  note  has  opened  a  new 
field  of  objections,  arising  from  this  quarter,  and  I  see  that  they 
are  to  have  more  effect  upon  my  ultimate  decision  upon  this 
subject  than  any  thing  which  has  yet  been  brought  forward. 
I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  what  produces  a  baneful  effect  upon 
the  minds  of  others  will  not  also  produce  the  same  upon  mine  ; 
but  I  do  not  recollect  of  being  thus  affected  at  any  amuse- 
ment of  the  kind  which  I  have  engaged  in,  nor  do  I  see  their 
impropriety  in  so  strong  a  light  as  you  have  done.  I  know 
that  such  improprieties,  and  great  exposures  to  depart  from 
every  delicate  feeling,  do  exist  in  an  assembly,  and  which,  if 
not  strictly  guarded  against,  may  produce  the  worst  conse- 
quences to  those  who  expose  themselves  to  its  influence. 
These,  I  trust,  I  should  be  enabled  to  overcome,  but  they  are 
such  as  I  would  be  afraid  to  expose  any  person  for  whom  I 
had  a  regard  to  the  danger  of  encountering. 

This,  I  think,  ought  to  decide  the  question  (whether  there 
is  ground  to  believe  that  these  assemblies  would  have  a  bad 
effect  upon  myself  or  not),  that  I  perceive  there  lies  danger 
in  them  to  others  who  might  be  influenced  to  go  from  my  ex- 
ample. Knowing  this,  were  I  to  go,  it  would  surely  evince 
the  most  direct  disobedience  to  one  of  the  most  generous  feel- 
ings of  the  heart — love  to  our  neighbor.  Were  I  to  appear 
at  an  assembly  with  the  feeling  that  I  myself  was  safe  from 
its  poisonous  influence,  and  knew  how  to  guard  myself,  and 
therefore  had  nothing  to  do  with  those  around  me,  it  would 
then  be  time  to  fear  that  all  Christian  influence  had  depart- 
ed from  me.  I  should  then  have  reason  to  believe  that  my 
avidity  to  gratify  a  taste  for  worldly  amusements  had  so  blind- 
ed me  to  all  perception  of  the  dangers  resulting  from  them, 
that  I  was  gradually  indulging  myself  to  an  extent  from  which 
I  could  not  recover.  I  would  not  at  any  time  have  gone  to 
any  place  had  such  a  prospect  of  its  consequences  been  set 
before  me  ;  and  it  is  only  from  considering  deliberately  any 


MR.  THOMAS  SMITH.  43 


doubtful  step  that  we  can  arrive  at  the  right  conclusion  how- 
to  proceed.  I  consider  it  a  fortunate  circumstance  that  this 
subject  was  started  ;  it  is  dreadful  to  think  that  indulgence 
in  this  single  amusement  might  have  been  the  origin  of  sins 
which  would  lead  to  utter  condemnation,  and  that  in  this  un- 
common manner  I  have  been  diverted  from  it.  I  am,  my 
dear  sir,  yours  very  affectionately, 

Thomas  Smith. 

No.  XXVII. — Dr.  Chalmers  to  Mr.  Thomas  Smith. 
Charlotte  Street,  16th  February^  1816. 

My  very  dear  Sir — I  will  not  disguise  the  satisfaction  I 
felt  on  receiving  the  information  conveyed  by  your  note — a 
satisfaction  which  you  have  kindly  cleared  of  every  alloy  by 
your  subsequent  assurance  that  the  resolution  stated  is  the 
unmingled  effect  of  conviction,  and  that  so  far  from  having 
been  led  to  it  by  a  respect  for  human  authority,  the  suspicion 
of  such  an  influence  had  suspended  and  kept  back  your  reso- 
lution longer  than  it  would  otherwise  have  been.  And  in  re- 
turn for  this  most  gratifying  intimation,  I  have  to  assure  you 
that  the  joy  with  which  I  rejoice  over  the  friend  of  my  bosom 
is  not  founded  on  the  mere  act  of  his  abstaining  from  assem- 
blies, but  on  the  evidence  which  this  act  affords  of  a  mind 
fearlessly  resolved  to  take  the  line  of  principle,  and  to  follow 
wherever  conscience  and  revelation  shall  lead  the  way. 

Your  intimation  leaves  me  at  entire  liberty,  in  taking  up 
the  subject  of  example,  to  announce  my  sentiments  not  more 
strongly  than  I  would  have  done — for  sorry  should  I  be  did 
even  a  respect  for  your  feelings  influence  me  to  the  suppres- 
sion of  truth — but  more  strongly  than  I  would  have  been  in- 
clined to  do.  The  delightful  spirit  which  breathes  through 
your  last  note  saves  all  my  delicacy  on  this  point ;  and  let  me 
express  myself  as  strongly  as  I  may,  I  rejoice  to  find  that  I 
speak  in  full  harmony  with  the  sentences  which  have  already 
flowed  from  your  pen. 

Suppose,  then,  a  man  anxious  for  his  own  Christianity  to 


44      CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

go  to  an  assembly  ;  to  be  aware  of  the  exposures  which  were 
to  be  met  within  the  four  corners  of  the  room  where  it  was 
held  ;  to  wrap  himself  up  in  all  the  defenses  of  that  caution 
and  vigilance  which  are  prescribed  to  him  ;  to  keep  studious- 
ly aloof  from  every  questionable  association  ;  nay,  so  far  to 
command  his  spirit  as  to  put  it  into  trains  of  pious  contempla- 
tion, and,  after  having  acted  his  part  so  nobly  and  so  well,  to 
retire  with  all  the  triumph  of  conscious  satisfaction,  because 
his  conduct  had  sustained  no  injury  and  his  principles  had 
suffered  no  pollution.  Combine  all  this  gratification  at  the 
safety  of  self  with  an  inconsiderateness  and  unconcern  about 
the  others  who  had  not  acted  their  part  as  he  did,  and  who 
have  therefore  suffered  more  by  their  attendance  than  they 
would  have  done  had  they  kept  within  the  inclosure  of  the 
family  mansion ;  and  with  all  the  semblance  of  a  Christian 
does  this  man  exhibit  the  very  essence  of  selfishness — not 
confining  a  trifle  to  himself  which  he  withholds  from  others, 
but  satisfied  that  he  alone,  of  all  the  people  there  who  have 
the  capacities  of  an  immortal  duration  as  well  as  he,  should 
bear  away  his  chance  for  immortality  as  good  and  as  entire 
as  he  brought  it,  and  making  it  no  subject  of  care  or  of  con- 
cern at  all,  though  the  people  with  whom  he  is  surrounded 
should,  by  the  history  of  that  evening,  have  made  themselves 
more  the  children  of  hell  than  before,  should  have  drunk  in 
more  of  the  poisonous  spirit  of  the  world,  should  have  strength- 
ened the  barrier  which  lies  across  the  path  of  their  return  to 
God,  and  thrown  themselves  at  a  wider  distance  from  the  of- 
fers of  pardon  and  the  calls  of  repentance  than  ever.  This 
is  not  considered  by  many,  but  I  tremble  to  think  of  the  aw- 
ful responsibility  which  inconsideration  brings  along  with  it. 
The  people  who  did  not  consider  were  the  people  whom  God 
pours  an  exclamation  on  and  denounces  anger  against,  "Ah! 
sinful  nation" — and  note  the  clause — "  children  that  are  cor- 
rupters." These  corrupters  did  not  consider.  They  did  not 
think  of  the  mischief  they  were  doing.  They  felt  not  the 
awful  weight  of  criminality  and  of  condemnation  they  were 


MR.  THOMAS  SMITH.  45 


bringing  upon  themselves  ;  but  they  did  not  escape  for  all 
this  ;  and  let  it  never  be  forgotten  that  the  frequenters  of  as- 
semblies are  just  such  inconsiderate  corrupters,  and  that  their 
power  of  corruption  is  just  so  much  the  greater  as  their  char- 
acter and  credit  stand  before  the  world  for  the  degree  of 
Christianity  they  have  attained.  The  more  an  example  is 
looked  up  to,  the  more  responsible  is  he  who  shows  it  for  ev- 
ery flaw  and  every  deficiency  which  may  be  found  in  it.^  I 
am,  my  dearest  sir,  yours  with  much  affection, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 


[Free  Church  Manse,  Hawick,  20th  April,  1849. — Dear  Sir — I 
beg  to  inclose  for  your  inspection  a  series  of  letters  addressed  by  our 
venerated  friend,  Dr.  Chalmers,  to  different  members  of  the  family  with 
whom  he  lodged  in  Hawick,  about  the  commencement  of  his  ministry, 
or  during  the  short  period  when  he  officiated  as  assistant  in  the  neigh- 
boring parish  of  Cavers.  It  is  singularly  interesting  to  observe  the 
strong  and  enduring  grasp  which  his  warm  heart  had  taken  of  a  fam- 
ily who  had  shown  some  kindness  to  him  in  the  days  of  his  youth,  but 
who,  while  moving  comparatively  in  circumstances  of  humble  life,  were 
not  remarkable  for  any  of  the  high  mental  endowments  by  which  he 
was  himself  so  eminently  distinguished.  When  his  vast  mind  was 
most  thoroughly  engrossed  with  the  magnificent  schemes  which  are 
likely  to  tell  on  the  well-being  of  many  coming  generations,  he  seems 
never  to  have  lost  sight  of  them.  And  even  at  the  period  of  the  Dis- 
i-uption,  when  great  principles  were  struggling  for  the  ascendancy,  and 
the  burden  and  responsibility  of  every  onward  movement  were  resting 
almost  exclusively  upon  himself,  we  find  him,  like  his  Divine  Master  at 
Bethany  in  the  days  of  old,  turning  aside  from  all  matters  of  public  and 
most  engrossing  concern,  that  he  might  sympathize  with  them  in  their 
afflictions,  and  send  to  them  those  brief  but  precious  communications, 
which  fell  like  the  balm  of  the  sweetest  consolation  over  their  sorrow- 
ing hearts.  In  this  respect  alone  these  letters  are  valuable  memorials 
of  our  venerated  father  ;  and  if  there  be  few  men  in  the  history  of  this 
fallen  world  who  have  held  a  larger  place  than  himself  in  the  affections 
of  his  brethren  of  mankind,  it'is  perhaps  so  far  to  be  accounted  for  by 
the  fact  that  the  loving-kindness  of  his  own  nature  was  so  childlike  in 
its  simplicity,  and  so  active  and  untiring  in  all  its  manifestations,  that  it 
seemed  scarce  possible  for  the  most  callous  heart  to  resist  it. 

*  This  coiTespondence  was  interrupted  by  that  illness  of  Mr.  Sraitli 
which  ended  in  his  death.     See  Memoirs,  vol.  ii.,  p.  37-61. 


46      CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR  CHALMERS. 

These  letters,  moreover,  are  possessed  of  additional  interest,  inas- 
much as  they  embody  in  themselves  incontestable  evidences  of  the  great 
moral  change  which,  under  the  teaching  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  he  was 
made  personally  to  undergo.  In  the  earliest  of  these  communications 
there  are  beautiful  traces  of  the  native  kindliness  of  his  disposition.  At 
the  same  time,  there  is  nothing  to  indicate  that  the  love  of  Christ  was 
constraining  him,  or  that  he  sought  for  principles  of  action  or  for  ele- 
ments of  enjoyment  elsewhere  than  within  the  dark  and  cloudy  horizon 
of  this  brief  and  mortal  life.  But  ere  long  the  light  breaks  upon  him. 
The  great  realities  of  the  eternal  world  are  brought  vividly  before  him. 
The  well-being  of  the  never-dying  soul  becomes  the  one  thing  that  is 
needful.  And  the  correspondence,  which  commences  almost,  if  not  al- 
together, in  the  spirit  of  a  man  who  was  living  without  God  and  with- 
out Christ  in  the  world,  exhibits  him,  as  it  advances,  rising  step  by  step 
in  the  scale  of  Christian  attainment,  till  it  closes  at  last  with  the  clear- 
est and  most  impressive  discoveries  of  the  unsearchable  riches  of  the 
Savior's  grace.     Believe  me  to  be,  dear  sir,  yours  very  truly, 

J.  A.  Wallace. 

Rev,  Dr.  Hanna.] 

No.  XXVIII. 

St.  Andrews,  12th  October,  1802. 

Dear  Mrs.  Kedie^ — The  bearer  of  this  is  Mr.  Carstairs, 
who  means,  if  convenient,  to  live  in  your  house  about  a  month, 
or  perhaps  more.  I  have  been  endeavoring  to  prevail  on  him 
to  remain  till  Christmas,  at  which  time  I  propose  being  in 
Hawick  myself  You  know  there  was  one  fault  I  used  to 
charge  you  with — too  great  an  anxiety  about  giving  satisfac- 
tion. I  can  assure  you,  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Carstairs,  such  an 
anxiety  is  altogether  unnecessary. 

I  will  thank  you  to  send  one  of  your  daughters  to  Mr. 
Armstrong,  bookseller,  and  inquire  for  a  book,  entitled  "  The 
Economy  of  Human  Life."  I  intend  it  for  them,  and  they 
will  find  it  well  worth  their  attentive  perusal.  You  will  de- 
liver them  the  inclosed  sheets,!  which  they  can  read  over  at 
their  leisure.  There  is  one  foolish  idea  which  is  apt  to  get 
into  the  minds  of  young  people,  and  which  often  renders  one's 
instructions  less  effectual  than  they  would  otherwise  be,  and 

*  See  Dr.  Chalmers's  Memoirs,  vol.  i.,  p.  58. 
t  The  letter  marked  No.  XXIX. 


MISSES  KEDIE.  47 


that  is,  they  sometimes  imagine,  when  you  give  them  advice 
it  is  because  you  suspect  they  are  worse  than  others,  and 
therefore  require  it.  With  regard  to  your  children,  I  give 
them  advice,  not  because  I  think  them  worse  than  others,  but 
really  because  they  are  better  than  others,  and  I  am  anxious 
they  should  remain  so. 

We  have  had  much  stormy  weather  here  of  late.  A  sloop 
belonging  to  my  father  has  been  wrecked  lately  on  the  west 
coast  of  Scotland  and  totally  lost.  She  had  thirteen  passen- 
gers, and  among  the  rest  an  officer  and  his  lady.  All  the 
lives,  however,  were  saved  by  means  of  the  boat. 

By  some  mistake,  I  received  the  letter  you  sent  me  along 
with  the  clothes  only  a  few  days  ago.  I  got  quite  free  of  my 
sore  throat  a  few  days  after  leaving  Hawick,  and  have  con- 
tinued so  ever  since.  With  best  comphments  to  your  hus- 
band, I  am  yours  sincerely, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  XXIX. 

Anstruther,  llth  October,  1802. 
My  dear  Girls — You  must  not  suppose  from  my  long  si- 
lence that  I  have  given  over  thinking  of  you.  I  can  assure 
you  there  is  nothing  in  which  I  take  greater  pleasure  than 
in  young  people  who  I  have  reason  to  believe  are  well  dis- 
posed, and  are  careful  to  preserve  themselves  from  the  dan- 
gers and  temptations  of  bad  company.  I  hope,  on  the  other 
hand,  that  you  have  not  forgotten  the  many  advices  I  gave 
you  about  the  necessity  of  attending  to  your  conduct,  and  the 
snares  to  which  the  young  and  thoughtless  are  exposed.  I 
hope  you  have  not  forgotten  the  solemn  promises  you  both 
made  me  that  you  would,  keep  yourselves  free  of  all  vicious 
and  improper  acquaintances.  I  beg  you  would  both  serious- 
ly reflect  on  the  awful  effects  of  being  led  astray  by  wicked 
example.  What  an  affliction  it  would  be  to  your  parents  in 
their  old  age  if  you  disgraced  yourselves  by  folly  and  miscon- 
duct '     You  would  be  despised  by  all  who  know  you  ;  you 


48      CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

would  live  a  life  of  dishonor,  and  die  tormented  by  the  hor- 
rors of  a  guilty  conscience.  I  tremble  to  think  that  all  this 
is  possible,  and  must  therefore  earnestly  request  you  to  lay  to 
heart  the  importance  of  a  sober,  and  decent,  and  virtuous 
life. 

You  will  receive  the  following  advices,  not  as  if  I  suspected 
that  you  are  worse  than  others,  and  therefore  had  more  need 
of,  them.  I  hope  and..believe  that  you  are  both  sincerely  re- 
solved to  conduct  yourselves  through  life  in  a  manner  that  is 
praiseworthy  and  respectable.  But  you  are  young  and  igno- 
rant of  the  world — ignorant  of  its  arts  and  temptations — ig- 
norant of  the  deceitful  villainy  that  abounds  in  it — ignorant 
of  the  dangers  which  beset  the  young  before  they  reach  the 
years  of  reflection  and  experience.  You  are  therefore  un- 
qualified to  direct  yourselves  aright  without  the  assistance  of 
those  who  are  more  advanced  in  life,  and  who  are  at  the 
same  time  sincerely  attached  to  your  interests.  When  I  think 
of  you  I  can  not  help  feeling  all  the  anxiety  of  an  affection- 
ate friendship,  and  beg  you  would  read  the  following  advices 
with  a  real  disposition  to  be  made  wiser  and  better  by  them. 

You  must  guard  against  all  temptations  to  falsehood  and 
deceit.  You  must  scorn  the  meanness  of  falsehood,  and  never 
suffer  any  consideration  of  fear  or  interest  to  deter  you  from 
speaking  what  you  know  to  be  the  truth.  You  must  be  par- 
ticularly careful  in  the  choice  of  your  company.  Never  take 
up  with  those  whose  conversation  is  profane,  or  impure,  or 
corrupting.  It  is  highly  proper  that  you  should  have  com- 
panions ;  but  let  them  be  equally  regular  and  well-disposed 
as  yourselves.  It  is  highly  proper  that  you  should  have 
cheerful  and  happy  amusements  ;  but  let  them  be  blameless 
and  innocent. 

I  must  further  request  of  you  to  reverence  the  authority  of 
your  parents  ;  to  pay  a  sacred  respect  to  religion  ;  to  be  reg- 
ular, and,  above  all,  sincere  in  your  prayers  ;  to  fear  and  love 
God  in  your  youth,  that  you  may  enjoy  an  age  of  consolation 
and  peace. 


MISSES  KEDIE.  49 


You  have  often  heard  me  insist  on  the  advantage  and  pro- 
priety of  keeping  within  doors  at  night.  You  must  both  be 
sensible  that  running  in  the  streets  at  night  exposes  you  to 
idle  and  disorderly  companions.  I  therefore  hope  that  you 
have  enough  of  work  and  amusement  to  keep  you  both  at 
home  after  it  is  dark,  and  that  you  will,  for  your  own  sakes, 
resist  the  pleasure  of  running  about  with  your  acquaintances 
at  such  late  hours.  You  must  both  give  up  such  a  danger- 
ous and  corrupting  practice,  and  set  about  contriving  some 
amusements  which  may  make  you  happy  within  doors. 
Think  not  that  to  be  sober  and  religious  you  m^ust  give  up  all 
play,  and  amusement,  and  cheerfulness.  This  is  by  no  means 
necessary  or  even  proper.  Be  happy,  and  enjoy  the  company 
of  your  acquaintances — only  let  these  acquaintances  be  well 
chosen,  that  you  may  suffer  nothing  from  their  conversation 
or  example.  I  am  not  sure  if  both  of  you  can  write.  I  ex- 
pect a  letter  from  your  mother  in  a  few  days ;  I  M'ill  thank 
one  of  you  to  write  me  at  the  end  of  her  letter,  and  in  par- 
ticular tell  me  if  you  can  read  my  hand.  I  have  been  at 
some  pains  in  making  this  letter  as  plain  and  distinct  as  pos- 
sible, and  I  am  much  afraid,  after  all,  that  you  will  feel  some 
difficulty  in  making  it  out.*"  I  am  engaged  in  constant  and 
busy  employment  for  the  whole  winter,  which  will  prevent 
me  from  writing  you  as  often  as  T  could  wish.  I,  however, 
will  grudge  no  time  or  trouble  that  may  have  a  useful  effect 
in  preserving  you  from  corruption  and  in  improving  the  pur- 
ity of  your  characters.  I  hope  you  are  getting  on  in  under- 
standing the  meaning  of  words.  When  I  next  come  to  Ha- 
wick, I  mean  to  put  you  both  upon  a  method  which  I  think 
will  be  of  great  use  to  you  in  that  respect.  If  Miss  Brown 
is  still  with  you,  give  her  my  best  compliments,  and  tell  her 
that,  though  she  refused  to  accompany  me  to  Fife,  I  am  de- 
termined to  see  her  in  Hawick  before  the  year  is  done,  which 
is  now  less  than  the  space  of  three  months.      You  may  also 

*  The  original  letter  extends  over  twelve  quarto  pages,  and  is  writ- 
ten in  half-text  and  in  the  plainest  handwriting. 

V.  ._       c 


50      CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

give  my  advice  to  your  brother,  that  he  be  diligent  and  atten- 
tive to  his  learning.  Remember  me  to  William  Walker,  if 
he  has  yet  returned  from  the  west  country,  where  I  under- 
stand he  went  to  spend  a  few  weeks.  My  sincerest  wishes 
attend  you.  May  Heaven  preserve  the  purity  and  innocence 
jf  your  youthful  years  I  May  He  defend  you  from  the  pollu- 
tions of  the  world,  and  prepare  you  for  a  life  of  usefulness  and 
honor.     I  am  your  well-wisher  and  friend, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  XXX. 

Elie,  26tk  July,  1816. 

Dear  Mrs.  Kedie — I  am  now  on  a  visit  to  my  friends  in 
Fife  ;  but,  before  I  left  Glasgow,  I  received  your  kind  letter 
and  present.  I  was  grieved  to  hear  of  your  daughter's  ill- 
ness, and  sincerely  hope  that  she  has  now  completed  her  re- 
covery. Mrs.  Chalmers  had  just  got  a  daughter  a  few  days 
before  your  parcel  arrived,  and  I  have  great  reason  to  be 
thankful  for  the  very  expeditious  recovery  she  has  met  with. 
She  joins  me  in  thanking  you  for  your  welcome  remem- 
brance of  me  ;  and  1  can  assure  you  that  my  eldest  daughter, 
Anne,  was  not  long  of  trying  your  biscuits,  and  did  most 
heartily  approve  of  them. 

My  whole  family  consists  of  two  daughters.  Give  my  best 
compliments  to  both  your  daughters  and  your  son.  I  retain 
a  very  warm  remembrance  of  Hawick  and  its  neighborhood; 
and  I  am  hopeful  that,  before  other  twelve  months  have  gone, 
I  may  again  have  it  in  my  power  to  visit  it. 

I  trust  your  son-in-law  will  never  be  in  Glasgow  without 
seeing  me,  and  giving  me  all  the  news  of  the  place  and  of 
your  family. 

It  is  my  prayer  that  you  may  long  be  spared  in  health  and 
comfortable  circumstances  among  them  ;  that  you  and  your 
children  may  receive  an  abundant  blessing  from  Him  who  is 
1  he  giver  of  every  good  and  of  every  perfect  gift ;  that  you  may 
icocive  an  interest  in  the  sure  mercies  of  our  great  and  all- 


MR.  KEDIE.  51 


sufficient  Savior  ;  and  that,  redeemed  by  His  blood,  and  sanc- 
tified by  the  power  of  His  Spirit,  you  may  all  be  made  perfect 
in  holiness,  and  meet  for  an  inheritance  of  glory.  Believe  me 
to  be,  my  dear  Mrs.  Kedie,  yours  with  much  regard, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  XXXI. 

Edinburgh,  6th  September^  1831. 

My  dear  Mr.  Kedie — If  your  mother  be  still  in  the  land 
of  the  hving,  tell  her  from  me  that  the  blood  of  Christ  cleans- 
eth  from  all  sin — and  why  not  from  her  sin  ?  Tell  her  to 
lean  the  whole  weight  of  her  dependence  on  the  foundation 
which  God  hath  laid  in  Zion,  and  she  will  find  it  broad 
enough,  and  strong  enough  to  bear  her.  Tell  her  to  look  unto 
Jesus,  who  poured  out  His  soul  unto  the  death,  that  she  and 
all  who  trust  in  Him  may  live,  and  may  find  rest  and  rejoic- 
ing in  her  soul. 

I  feel  the  deepest  sympathy  with  you  and  your  afflicted 
family  on  this  occasion.  I  pray  that  you  may  have  that  com- 
fort which  God  alone  can  give ;  and,  above  all,  that  this  chas- 
tisement liom  His  hand  may  yield  both  to  you  and  to  your 
sisters  the  peaceable  fruits  of  righteousness. 

It  is  now  twenty-nine  years  since  I  lodged  in  your  house, 
and  I  have  still  a  pleasant  and  a  grateful  recollection  of  all 
the  kindness  I  received  from  your  mother,  and  of  all  the  af- 
fection which  both  she  and  her  family  bore  to  me. 

Give  my  kindest  regards  to  your  married  sister,  Janet ;  and 
tell  your  younger  sister,  Betty,  that  from  her  childhood,  when 
I  used  to  hear  her  read  in  my  room,  I  have  always  remem- 
bered her,  and  with  feelings  of  very  great  regard. 

Let  us  think  that  our  time  is  coming  when  we  shall  lie  on 
our  dying  beds,  and  let  us  make  no  delay  in  seeking  our  peace 
with  God,  and  keeping  all  His  commandments.  Believe  me, 
my  dear  sir,  yours  very  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 


52  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


No.  XXXII. 

Edinburgh,  6th  October,  1840. 

Dear  Mr.  Kedie — I  have  just  now  received  your  kind 
letter,  and  both  I  and  Mrs.  Chalmers  feel  very  much  obliged 
by  your  remembrance  of  us.  Is  it  your  elder  or  younger 
sister  who  has  lost  her  husband  ?  Give  my  best  regards  to 
them  both  ;  and  let  it  be  the  care  of  us  all  to  perfect  holiness 
in  the  fear  of  God.  Give  it  as  my  charge  to  your  dear  sis- 
ters, Janet  and  Betty,  that  they  mind  the  one  thing  needful, 
which  is  the  care  of  their  souls — the  guilt  of  which  the  blood 
of  the  Savior  alone  can  wash  away,  but  whose  grace  will 
never  fail  those  who  put  their  trust  in  Him.  Oh,  that  we  re- 
ceived the  Spirit  from  on  high,  who  might  enable  us  to  puri- 
fy ourselves  even  as  Christ  is  pure. 

If  you  have  any  parcel  to  send  in,  address  it  to  Edinburgh, 
No.  7,  Inverleith  Row.  We  are  very  grateful  to  you  for  your 
generous  offer  of  some  Hawick  bakes,  which  have  long  been 
famous.     I  am,  dear  Mr.  Kedie,  yours  very  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  XXXIII. 

Edinburgh,  22d  January,  1843. 
My  dear  Mr.  Kedie — I  am  very  much  concerned  to  hear 
of  your  poor  sister's  illness.  My  memory  is  failing  me,  and  I 
don't  recollect  the  name  either  of  her  husband  or  that  of  your 
younger  sister,  though  I  shall  ever  retain  a  very  affectionate 
remembrance  of  themselves.  I  understand  it  is  your  elder 
sister  whom  you  represent  as  now  sinking  in  the  arms  of 
death.  It  is  my  earnest  prayer  that  she  may  fall  asleep  in 
Jesus  ;  and,  if  she  be  still  alive,  assure  her  from  me  that  the 
blood  of  Christ  cleanseth  from  all  sin — and  why  not  from  her 
sin]  We  are  all  of  us  by  nature  great  sinners;  but  Christ 
is  a  great  Savior,  and  there  is  no  sin  beyond  His  atonement. 
Tell  her  to  cast  all  her  care  and  all  her  confidence  on  him  ; 
and  so  she  may  look  with  joyful  expectation  to  that  eternal 


MR.  KEDIE.  53 


life  which  is  the  gift  of  God  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 
He  casts  out  none  who  come  unto  Him,  and  all  who  come 
unto  God  by  Him  shall  be  saved  to  the  uttermost. 

Read  to  her  the  23d  Psalm,  some  of  the  first  verses  of  the 
14th  chapter  of  John,  and  some  of  the  last  verses  of  the  5  th 
chapter  of  2d  Corinthians;  and  should  God  by  this  time 
have  been  pleased  to  take  her  to  Himself,  these  passages  and 
reflections  will  not  be  thrown  away  upon  her  survivino-  rela- 
tives. Tell  Betty,  your  younger  sister,  how  much  I  desire  both 
your  and  her  salvation.  I  was  not  so  earnest  as  I  ought  to 
have  been  in  pressing  this  great  concern  upon  you  when  I 
lived  under  your  roof.  But  better  late  than  never  ;  and  it 
mightily  concerns  us  to  know,  that  in  turning  to  Christ,  we 
must  turn  from  all  our  iniquities;  that  we  must  give  up  the 
sins  both  of  our  hearts  and  of  our  lives,  and  become  holy  crea- 
tures, else  we  shall  not  enter  the  kingdom  of  God. 

Give  my  best  regards  to  your  sisters,  also  to  your  wife  and 
daughter,  whom  I  expected  to  see  in  my  house  here  last  sum- 
mer. But  we  all  went  to  Ireland  ;  and,  indeed,  I  am  so  very 
much  taken  up,  that  I  have  no  time  to  show  that  attention 
to  my  friends  which  I  would  hke.  I  am,  my  dear  sir,  yours 
very  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  XXXIV. 

Edinburgh,  llth  June,  1844. 

My  dear  Sir — I  feel  greatly  obliged  by  your  kind  letter 
of  the  17th  June,  and  have  much  value  for  the  strong  and  un- 
abated friendship  which  you  have  ever  shown  toward  me. 

I  fear  I  shall  not  be  able  to  avail  myself  of  your  welcome 
invitation  to  Hawick,  as  I  have  much  to  do  which  necessarily 
detains  me  at  home.  Give  my  best  regards  to  your  son.  You 
speak  of  a  former  communication  of  his,  which  I  hope  I  ac- 
knowledged at  the  time.  I  rejoice  to  understand  from  yon 
that  he  is  a  deacon  of  Mr.  "Wallace's,  and  am  persuaded  that, 
he  will  make  a  duty  not  only  of  doing  all  he  can  for  the  good 
of  his  own  particular  Church,  but  that,  through  the  medium 


54      CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

of  the  Hawick  Association,  he  will  exert  himself  for  the  good 
of  the  Church  at  large. 

Give  my  most  cordial  remembrance  to  your  only  surviving 
sister,  dear  Betsy,  of  whom  and  of  all  your  family  I  pray  that 
we  may  meet  in  Heaven,  after  a  life  of  faith  and  holiness 
upon  earth.  Ever  believe  me,  my  dear  Mr.  Kedie,  yours  very 
afiectionately,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  XXXV. 

Edinburgh,  5th  April,  1846. 

My  dear  Mr.  Kedie — I  very  much  grieve  to  hear  of  your 
sister's  illness,  and,  from  the  concluding  part  of  your  letter,  I 
can  infer  your  great  earnestness  about  her  soul.  It  is  most 
true  that  it  is  a  very  serious,  solemn  thought  when  one  thinks 
of  meeting  with  an  angry  God  ;  and  had  we  only  ourselves 
and  our  own  merits  to  trust  in,  there  would  be  nothing  for 
any  of  us  but  a  fearful  looking  for  of  judgment.  But  tell  your 
dear  sister  Elizabeth — dear  to  myself  as  to  you — that  when 
she  thinks  of  herself,  what  we  all  ought,  as  a  great  sinner,  she 
should  also  think  of  Christ  as  a  great  Savior,  whose  blood 
cleanseth  from  all  sin — and  why  not  from  her  sin  ?  In  and 
through  Him  the  anger  of  God  is  turned  away  even  from  the 
chief  of  sinners.  0  that  you,  and  she,  and  we  all  could  be 
led  to  place  full  confidence  in  Him,  to  cast  our  burden  upon 
the  Lord,  who  is  both  willing  and  able  to  sustain  it.  It  is 
true  that  a  work  must  be  wrought  in  us  as  well  as  for  us,  that 
the  clean  heart  and  the  right  spirit  must  be  created  ;  for  with- 
out holiness  no  man  can  see  God.  But  still  let  us  go  to  Him 
for  all  our  wants,  for  all  we  stand  in  need  of,  and  go  as  we 
are.  His  blood  can  atone  for  all  our  guilt ;  His  grace  can 
wash  away  all  our  pollutions,  and  sanctify  us  wholly.  He  is 
able,  and  as  willing  as  He  is  able,  to  do  all  for  us. 

Let  the  following  texts  be  pointed  out  to  your  dear  sister  : 
John,  iii.,  16  ;  Luke,  xi.,  13  ;  Matt.,  xx.,  28 ;  Rom.,  iii.,  24- 
2G  ;  Rom.,  x.,  13  ;  2  Cor.,  v.,  18-21  ;  2  Cor.,  xii.,  9  ;  1  John, 
iv.,  8,  9,  10,  16,  19  ;  Isaiah,  xxx.,  15. 


REV.  DR.  JONES. 


Give  my  kindest  regards  to  your  dear  sister,  and  let  me  hear 
soon  of  her  again.     I  ever  am,  my  dear  sir,  yours  very  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  XXXVI. 

Edinburgh,  l^th  December^  1846. 

My  dear  Mr.  Kedie — It  gives  me  real  concern  to  hear 
from  you  of  your  wife's  serious  illness.  May  God  prepare  us 
for  the  whole  of  His  will.  He  afflicts  not  willingly,  and 
makes  all  things  work  together  for  good  to  them  who  love 
Him.  It  is  my  earnest  prayer  that  you  and  yours  may  be  pre- 
pared for  the  whole  of  God's  will ;  and  let  us  never  forget 
that  our  best  preparation  is  to  be  found  in  Christ,  who  cast- 
cth  out  none  who  come  unto  Him.  May  the  Holy  Spirit  draw 
yourself,  and  all  who  are  near  and  dear  to  you,  to  His  M'ell- 
beloved  Son,  in  whom  all  is  safety,  and  peace,  and  joy. 

Give  my  kindest  regards  to  your  dear  wife,  and  also  to  your 
sister,  my  very  old  friend,  Betty.  I  felt  much  at  parting  with 
her  when  I  drove  off  in  the  coach  after  her  affectionate  fare- 
well.     I  ever  am,  my  dear  sir,  yours  most  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 


LETTERS  TO  THE  REV.  DR.  JONES  OF  EDINBURGH 

No.  XXXVII. 

KiLMANY  Manse,  14th.  November,  1812. 
My  dear  Sir — -I  owe  you  much  gratitude  for  your  good 
services,  and  though  not  able  for  much  exertion  in  preaching, 
I  look  upon  myself  as  bound  to  make  you  a  plentiful  repay- 
ment for  your  most  friendly  and  seasonable  assistance  to  ine. 
You  ascribed  my  illness  to  the  right  cause  when  you  laid  it 
upon  the  Dundee  kirks  ;*  and  this  may  serve  as  a  lesson 
against  too  much  exertion,  or  too  many  engagements,  in  all 
time  coming.  I  shall  certainly  make  uj)  for  my  (leiiciencii.-, 
*  See  Memoirs,  vol.  i.,  p.  304. 


56      CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

in  as  far  as  the  Destitute  Sick  Society  is  concerned,^  if  God 
spare  me  in  health  and  strength  for  it — though  I  would  cer- 
tainly prefer  the  summer  side  of  the  year  for  any  undertaking 
of  that  kind.  My  complaints  have  left  me  for  the  present, 
and  I  regret,  from  the  shortness  of  their  duration,  that  I  should 
have  had  them  at  so  unseasonable  a  time. 

My  prayer  to  God  is  that  you  may  have  many  seals  of  your 
usefulness — that  you  may  he  the  instrument  of  reclaiming 
many  from  darkness  to  the  marvelous  light  of  the  Gospel — 
and  that  the  seed  scattered  around  you  in  the  course  of  your 
ministrations  may  fall  upon  hearts  prepared  by  Divine  grace 
to  receive  it.  I  wish  you  the  truest  of  all  enjoyments  to  an 
evangelical  mind,  when  I  wish  that  you  may  see  the  pleas- 
ure of  the  Lord  prospering  in  your  hand — sons  and  daughters 
turned  unto  righteousness — and  the  extensive  field  which 
Providence  has  assigned  to  your  labors  growing  richer  every 
year  in  the  fruits  of  faith,  and  charity,  and  all  righteousness. 

I  owe  you  much  gratitude,  not  merely  for  your  substantial 
services,  but  for  your  full  and  friendly  communication  of  them. 
Your  letter  gave  me  great  relief;  and  while  I  admit  only 
your  two  first  claims  upon  me  for  a  sermon  early,  I  can  as- 
sure you  that  I  shall  always  look  upon  you  as  having  the  first 
title  to  my  future  services.  And,  ceteris  paribus,  I  shall  al- 
ways, in  my  journeys  to  Edinburgh,  be  decided  by  the  time 
of  your  sacrament.  I  have  no  immediate  prospect,  however, 
of  being  in  the  city.  My  best  compliments  to  Dr.  Fleming, 
and  believe  me,  my  dear  sir,  yours  most  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.   XXXVIII. 

KiLMANY  Manse,  \2th  February^  1813. 

My  dear  Sir — I  should  certainly  prefer  preaching  for  you 

at  one  of  your  little  sacraments;  and  as  to  my  not  being  able 

to  assist  Dr.  Fleming,  you  have  perhaps  forgot  my  former  as- 

suraiipe  to  you,  that  one  engagement  during  one  visit  to  Edin- 

*   See  Memoirs,  vol.  i.,  p.  328. 


REV.  DR  JONES ,  57 


burgh  is  all  that  I  can  answer  for  at  present.  I  hope  that  in 
time  I  shall  be  able  to  make  up  Ibr  the  actual  disappoint- 
ments I  have  already  given  you  both,  but  I  must  be  cautious 
not  to  lay  the  foundation  of  future  disappointments  ;  and,  be 
assured,  that  though  greatly  and  decidedly  better,  I  am  still 
too  frail  a  subject,  and  live  at  too  great  a  distance  from  you, 
to  have  any  regular  dependence  upon. 

I  am  glad  to  observe,  by  a  note  from  Mr.  Wright,  subjoined 
to  your  letter,  that  he  has  begun  the  penny-a-week  operation 
in  his  parish  ;  and  it  gives  me  still  greater  pleasure  to  under- 
stand that  this  mighty  instrument  has  been  put  into  action 
in  Edinburgh  in  behalf  of  the  Missionary  Society.  There  is 
something  very  animating  in  the  stir  that  is  now^  abroad  ;  and 
it  is  my  hope  and  prayer  that  it  may  speedily  redound  to  the 
furtherance  of  the  Messiah's  kingdom.  But  while  so  much 
is  doing  to  push  forward  the  limits  of  the  visible  church 
among  heathen,  let  it  never  be  forgotten  that,  even  within 
these  limits,  there  are  many,  and  very  many,  who  still  stand 
without,  and  let  us  not  relax  our  efforts  in  the  cultivation  of 
the  home  territory.  It  is  my  dehght  to  observe  that,  so  far 
from  there  being  any  interference  in  the  two  concerns,  they 
give  life  and  energy  to  one  another,  and  that,  generally  speak- 
ing, those  clergy  who  are  most  assiduous  in  the  way  of  vitfxl- 
ly  Christianizing  their  own  districts,  are  ever  readiest  to  give 
their  assistance  and  their  testimony  to  missionary  enterprises. 
It  is  the  same  with  the  great  body  of  the  people — give  them 
a  share  and  an  interest  in  the  cause,  and  though  the  object 
be  foreign,  I  contend  that  it  is  accompanied  with  a  home  in- 
fluence, and  that  the  inference  is  not  merely  understood,  but 
felt  among  them.  If  so  much  is  to  be  done  for  sending  the 
Bible  to  others,  with  what  consistency  can  we  neglect  it  for 
ourselves,  or  suffer  it  to  lie  beside  us  unread,  unopened,  and 
unattended  to  ? 

My  best  compliments  to  Dr.  Fleming  when  you  see  him. 
Mr.  Tait  will  be  a  rare  accession  to  the  ministry  in  Edin- 
burgh.    He  may  be  deficient  in  splendor,  but  he  has  a  hearty 

C  2 


58      CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

good  will  to  the  business,  and  is,  to  a  great  degree,  experi- 
mentally conversant  in  the  work  of  close  dealing  with  souls  ; 
and  a  single  human  being  called  out  of  darkness,  though  he 
lives  in  some  putrid  lane  or  unheard  of  obscurity  in  your 
great  city,  is  a  brighter  testimony  than  all  the  applauses  of 
all  the  fashionables. 

Yours  with  much  regard,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  XXXIX. 

KiLMANY  Manse,  11  th  January^  1814. 

My  dear  Sir — I  arrived  here  in  safety  on  Wednesday,  and 
am  not  in  the  slightest  degree  fatigued  or  worse  by  my  ex- 
cursion. This  I  attribute,  in  a  great  degree,  to  the  very  polite 
system  which  obtains  in  Hanover  Street.  The  truth  is,  that 
any  complaints  I  have  are  chiefly  dependent  upon  the  stom- 
ach ;  and  I  have  the  misfortune  to  be  extensively  connected 
with  a  set  of  people  who  worry  you  with  what  they  absurdly 
think  kindness,  and  are  so  outrageous  in  pressing  you  to  this 
one  thing  and  that  other  thing,  that  you  have  neither  peace 
nor  liberty  in  their  presence.  I  have  just  been  telling  my 
wife  that  I  enjoyed  a  most  delicious  exemption  from  all  this, 
and  that  I  was  never  more  happy  than  in  the  bosom  of  your 
easy  and  enlightened  family. 

I  looked  in  upon  Mr.  Wright,  of  Markinch,  on  my  road 
homeward,  and  find  him  to  be  as  you  represented  him — al- 
together a  man  of  our  own  spirit.  It  is  most  refreshing  to 
meet  with  such,  and  grievous  to  think  how  thinly  scattered 
they  are  over  the  surface  of  our  Establishment.      .      .     . 

Since  seeing  you,  I  have  been  looking  into  the  last  number 
of  the  Moravian  Accounts,  and  am  quite  delighted  with  the 
gentleness,  unction,  and  simplicity  which  pervade  it.  This 
is  Monday  ;  and  to  give  you  an  idea  of  the  deep  retirement 
of  my  situation,  I  am  only  in  possession  of  the  news  of  Tues- 
day last — a  most  interesting  period.  The  frost  here  is  the 
most  intense  I  ever  recollect.  It  will  be  as  severe  in  France, 
in  spite  of  its  southern  situation,  as  forming  part  of  a  great 


REV.  DR.  JONES.  59 


continent — in  which  case,  if  the  Allies  do  not  find  good  quar- 
ters, they  will  be  ill  enough  off. 

My  wife  joins  me  in  kindest  remembrances  to  yourself,  Mrs. 
and  Miss  Jones.  My  best  compliments  to  the  young  gentle- 
men.    I  trust  that  Mr.  Thomas's  cold  has  left  him. 

Yours  most  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  XL. 

KiLMARDiNNY,  3d  January,  1816. 

My  dear  Sir — I  am  here  spending  a  few  days,  as  I  do 
not  find  the  Glasgow  frosts  to  be  altogether  so  congenial  to 
my  feelings  as  the  same  kind  of  weather  in  the  country. 

I  had  not  got  over  a  single  paragraph  of  your  manuscript* 
without  a  very  warm  and  pleasurable  impression  of  the  friend- 
ship which  dictated  it.  I  trust  I  shall  never  forget  the  proof 
it  exhibits  of  a  very  cordial,  open,  and  generous  attachment 
to  myself;  and  I  do  feel  the  very  sincerest  gratitude  for  your 
spirited  and  able  vindication. 

I  was  particularly  pleased  with  your  bold  assertion  as  to 
your  own  experience  of  ministers  who  reprobated  as  unscrip- 
tural  a  ministerial  address  to  sinners,  and  who  even  found 
fault  with  yourself  for  so  doing.  This  put  me  in  mind  of  the 
great  comfort  and  direction  I  derived  from  your  conversation, 
some  years  ago,  when  I  was  greatly  oppressed  with  anxiety 
about  being  more  formally  orthodox  in  my  sermons.  I  saw 
that  you  were  not  at  all  so  fettered,  and  I  liked  the  boldness, 
and  freeness,  and  urgency  with  which  you  entered  immediate- 
ly on  every  one  truth,  for  which  the  Bible  gives  its  plain  and 
authoritative  warrant.  You  told  me  at  that  time,  that  as  I 
got  older  I  should  get  more  confident ;  and  I  trust  that  any 
confidence  I  have  may  not  be  confidence  on  any  other  ground 
than  on  the  ground  of  Scripture,  and  on  the  revelation  of  Him 
who  bids  us  call  no  man  master  but  Himself  only. 

*  A  critique  on  some  of  the  reviews  of  Dr.  Chalmers's  ''  Address  to 
tiie  Inhabitants  of  Kilmany."  See  Memoirs,  vol.  ii.,  p.  16,  17,  and 
Appendix  A,  491—494. 


60      CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

You  have  well  answered  that  very  strange  charge  of  the 
reviewer,  that  a  mourning  for  sin  and  an  easiness  about  par- 
ticular sins  is  a  contradiction  in  terms.  A  mourning  for  one 
particular  sin  and  a  being  at  ease  about  that  particular  sin 
is  doubtless  a  contradiction  ;  but  it  is  really  in  the  face  of 
all  experience  to  say  that  a  man  may  not  contract  a  listless 
habit  of  indulgence  in  certain  offenses  with  a  general  habit 
of  anxiety  about  himself,  on  the  score  of  sin  and  his  salvation 
from  it.  I  think  it  one  of  the  most  frequent  and  familiar  ex- 
hibitions of  human  character. 

Will  you  accept  of  my  gratitude  for  the  whole  argument  ? 
It  is  a  very  complete  and  impressive  one.  You  have  very 
dexterously  alluded  to  the  favorable  review  of  the  Observer. 
It  was  really  wrong  to  pit  me  in  the  way  they  did  against  a 
whole  description  of  clergymen.  The  review  in  the  Herald 
is  much  kinder  and  in  a  better  spirit.  I  got  it  sent  me  by 
Greville  Ewing,  with  an  intimation  that  he  was  the  author 
of  it.  I  had  a  closet  conversation,  on  the  subject  of  the  Ad- 
dress, lately  with  our  friend  Dr.  Balfour,  who  dissents  from 
several  of  its  positions  ;  but  I  have  found  in  him  an  unquelled 
kindness  of  temperament,  which  no  differences,  either  in  opin- 
ion or  practice,  can  possibly  extinguish.  We  see  wonderful- 
ly little  of  one  another,  owing  to  his  not  walking  and  to  my 
not  visiting.  Dr.  Lockhart  is  more  in  my  way.  I  do  not  find 
the  preaching  easier  yet ;  and  the  winter  of  Glasgow  has 
turned  out  differently  from  what  I  expected.  The  frost, 
which  I  formerly  found  so  bracing,  condenses  the  smoke  of 
our  public  works,  and  fills  all  our  streets  with  a  darkness  that 
may  be  felt ;  but  the  goodness  of  my  friends  is  unbounded  ; 
and  should  I  be  enabled,  through  an  occasional  change  of  air, 
to  weather  this  one  season,  I  trust  that  I  shall  be  enough  sea- 
soned and  smoke-dried  for  the  same  kind  of  durability  with  a 
stock-fish. 

My  kindest  love  to  Mrs.  and  Miss  Jones,  in  which  Mrs. 
Chalmers  joins  me.  We  are  concerned  to  hear  of  poor  Mrs. 
Pitcairn.     I  am  glad  to  observe  that  David  is  picking  up  his 


MRS.  COUTTS. 


61 


spirits  a  little.  My  prayers  are  for  your  personal  and  minis- 
terial comfort.  Believe  me  to  be,  my  dear  sir,  yours  with 
great  esteem  and  regard,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  XLI. 

Glasgow,  26th  March,  1816. 
My  dear  Sir — I  have  seen  the  Instructor  of  this  month, 
and  recognise  in  your  article  all  the  spirit  and  ardor  of  hon- 
est conviction,  along  with  the  evidence  of  a  friendship  to  my- 
self, for  which  I  can  not  be  too  grateful.  I  think  it  pretty 
discernible  in  the  reply,  that  there  is  the  blinking  and  the 
evasion  of  a  worse  cause.  It  is  ridiculous  to  deny  a  prototype 
to  the  character  of  which  you  assert  the  reality.  They  are 
met  with  on  my  daily  path  in  dozens  ;  and  I  do  think  it  a 
pity  that,  in  these  argumentations,  they  can  not  refrain  from 
the  invidiousness  of  petulant  and  personal  observation.  I  re- 
main, my  dear  sir,  yours,  &c., 

Thomas  Chalmers. 


LETTERS  TO  MRS.  COUTTS. 


[Mrs.  Coutts  was  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  M'Culloch  of  Dairsie, 
and  widow  of  the  Rev.  Robert  Coutts  of  Brechin.  After  her  hus- 
band's death,  she  resided  wnth  her  father,  whose  parish  was  situated  a 
few  miles  from  Kilmany.  Dr.  Chalmers's  removal  from  that  neigh- 
borhood suspended  an  intercourse,  afterward  resumed  at  Edinburgh, 
to  which  place  Mrs.  Coutts  removed  after  her  father's  decease.  Her 
singular  vivacity  of  temper  and  intellect  especially  endeared  her  to 
Dr.  Chalmers ;  and  it  was  at  her  house  that  his  last  visit  was  paid  on 
the  day  preceding  his  death.     See  Memoirs,  vol.  iv.,  p.  513.] 

No.  XLII. 

Kilmany  Manse,  2ith  October,  1811. 
My  dear  Mrs.  Coutts — My  sister  Jane  left  this  for  An- 
ster  about  three  weeks  ago.  She  regretted  the  necessity  which 
took  her  away  before  making  you  a  visit,  from  which  she  prom- 
ised herself  much  enjoyment.  I  follow  her  about  the  middle 
of  next  month,  and,  though  I  will  not  promise,  I  have  the  firm 


62      CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

purpose  of  seeing  Dr.  M'Culloch  at  Dairsie  before  taking  my 
departure.  I  would  be  very  glad  to  understand  that  Mrs. 
M'CuUoch's  health  admitted  of  my  spending  a  day  with  him. 
I  shall  bring  "  Hannah  More"  with  me  if  I  do  come,  and 
nothing  but  the  want  of  a  right  opportunity  has  prevented 
me  from  sending  it.  I  have  also  to  return  "Henry's  Life," 
from  the  perusal  of  which  I  have  derived  great  pleasure.  The 
pigmies  of  the  present  age,  when  they  think  of  his  zeal  and 
his  prodigious  industry  in  the  good  way,  may  well  feel  hum- 
bled at  the  comparison.  Have  you  read  "  Foster's  Essays?" 
They  are  written  in  a  strain  of  very  profound  and  original 
sentiment.  The  only  essay  professedly  religious  is,  "On  the 
Aversion  of  Men  of  Taste  to  Evangelical  Rehgion" — a  most 
masterly  performance,  in  which  he  stands  forth  the  sturdy 
champion  of  all  that  is  peculiar  in  the  doctrines  of  the  New 
Testament,  but  pleads  the  importance  of  delivering  them  in  a 
phraseology  and  style  of  expression  more  congenial  to  the  lit- 
erary habits  of  the  age.  He,  of  course,  does  not  surrender  a 
single  fragment  of  the  sentiment,  and  even  annexes  the  most 
pointed  reprobation  to  the  mind  that  can  suffer  itself  to  be 
seduced  by  the  associations  of  taste  from  the  truth  as  it  is  in 
Jesus.  Yet,  on  the  principle  of  being  all  things  to  all  men 
that  we  may  gain  some,  it  is  right  that  the  fishers  of  men 
should  accommodate  their  bait  to  the  prize  which  they  are 
attempting  to  secure.  He  exposes  the  anti-Christian  tenden- 
cy of  those  sentiments  which  issue  every  day  from  the  schools 
of  polite  literature.  And  on  the  principle  that  Christianity 
should  be  made  to  extend  her  triumphs  in  every  quarter,  he 
is  for  arraying  her  in  the  same  academic  elegance  of  style  that 
has  hitherto  been  too  exclusively  appropriated  to  subjects  of 
general  literature.  You  will  of  course  perceive  that  it  would 
be  wrong  in  a  country  clergyman  to  be  so  far  seduced  by  the 
splendor  of  this  elegant  speculation  as  to  refine  himself  from 
the  humble  and  untutored  people  among  whom  Providence 
has  appointed  him  to  labor.  I  may  add  (and  it  is  a  senti- 
ment in  which  Foster  most  cordially  acquiesces)  that,  in  every 


MRS.  COUTTS.  63 


mind  seasoned  with  that  taste  which  is  from  heaven,  the  na- 
tive weight  and  importance  of  Scripture  truth  will  be  always 
seen  to  carry  it  over  all  the  repulsions  of  a  homely  or  obsolete 
style  of  expression.  With  best  compliments  to  all  at  Dairsie, 
I  am,  yours  with  much  esteem, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  XLIII. 

KiLMANY  Manse,  19th  December,  1814. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Coutts — I  some  days  ago  sent  my  concur- 
rence in  the  Glasgow  appointment,  finally  decided  thereto  by 
a  long  letter  from  Dr.  Balfour,  in  which,  among  many  other 
things,  he  says  that  the  consequences  of  my  refusal  would  be 
dreadful. 

I  am  most  desirous  to  remain  here  till  September,  and  it  is 
in  the  power  of  the  Presbytery  at  Glasgow  to  grant  me  that 
accommodation.  May  I  request  you  to  join  your  influence 
with  Dr.  Balfour  to  my  request  for  that  object,  that  he  may 
enable  me  to  stem  that  rapacious  spirit  of  impatience  and 
monopoly  which  looketh  only  to  its  own  things  and  not  to  the 
things  of  others,  and  conceiveth  that  every  thing  here  must 
be  given  up  for  the  devouring  and  clamorous  demands  of  the 
people  of  Glasgow. 

I  am  not  insensible  to  the  violent  separation  from  a  people 
whom  I  love,  and  if  I  never  had  the  lesson  of  sitting  loose  to 
the  world  brought  home  to  my  feelings,  I  feel  the  greatness 
and  necessity  of  the  duty  now. 

I  have  been  thinking  a  good  deal  of  the  part  which  people 
might  take,  separately  from  their  minister,  in  the  great  busi- 
ness of  promoting  the  growth  and  preservation  of  religion  in 
the  neighborhood.  And  I  have  much  to  talk  with  you  about 
those  fellowship  meetings,  &c.,  which  private  Christians  may 
form,  and  so  obtain  an  interest  in  the  unfailing  promise  of 
Christ,  that  where  two  or  three  are  met  together  in  His  name, 
there  He  will  be  in  the  midst  of  them. 

My  prayer  is,  that  you  may  be  long  preserved  a  blessing  to 


64      CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


this  neighborhood,  and  be  enabled  to  exercise  among  your 
acquaintances  that  most  precious  of  all  wisdom,  the  wisdom 
of  winning  souls.     . 

O  that  God  would  put  it  into  the  hearts  of  the  people  to 
be  in  earnest  about  His  favor  I  that  the  natural  tenderness 
that  they  now  feel  may  turn  into  a  deep  and  serious  concern 
about  the  things  of  eternity,  and  that  a  spirit  of  united  prayer, 
poured  upon  them  for  the  object  they  profess  to  have  so  much 
at  heart,  may  be  the  blessed  means  of  securing  to  them  a  pas- 
tor according  to  God's  own  heart,  who  will  feed  them  with 
knowledge  and  understanding. 

May  I  request  your  prayers  for  the  last  object  in  behalf  of 
my  much  loved  and  much  regretted  parish.  Accept  the  as- 
surance of  my  warmest  and  most  affectionate  regards,  and 
believe  me  to  be,  my  dear  madam,  yours  very  sincerely, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  XLIV. 

KiLMANY  Manse,  27th  January,  1815. 
My  dear  Mrs.  Coutts — I  send  you  Alleine's  "Alarm,"  of 
which  I  was  happy  to  find  that  I  had  a  copy  additional  to  the 
one  I  have  recently  parted  with.  You  may  take  your  own 
time  to  it,  and  it  is  my  prayer  that  it  may  be  the  instrument 
of  a  blessed  and  enduring  change  upon  those  whose  good  you 
have  immediately  in  view  by  it.  I  am  afraid  there  is  a  dis- 
eased touchiness  upon  the  subject  of  good  works,  and  an  un- 
scriptural  alarm  about  the  danger  of  pressing  the  plain  and 
obvious  work  of  repentance  on  sinners  at  the  very  outset  of 
their  seeking  after  God.  Let  me  take  for  an  example  the 
case  of  a  young  female  inquirer,  addicted  to  the  obviously 
wrong  thing  of  carrying  it  with  petulance  and  disrespect  to 
her  parents.  I  do  not  think  it  possible  that  I  can  at  too  early 
a  stage  press  upon  her  the  obligation  of  the  Fifth  Command- 
ment. To  the  question,  What  shall  I  do  ?  I  would  give  Paul's 
answer  to  the  jailer  ;  but  is  there  any  thing  in  his  answer  so 
fitted  to  engross  the  mind  and  monopolize  the  whole  of  its  at- 


MRS.  COUTTS. 


65 


tention,  as  to  leave  no  room  for  the  answer  of  John  to  similar 
questions  in  the  third  chapter  of  Luke?  Give  up  this  wroiifr 
thing,  cease  your  petulance  to  your  father  or  mother.  Their 
doing  so  may  induce  in  it  the  risk  of  their  resting  in  a  per- 
formance of  their  own,  and  so  turning  their  attention  from 
Christ  as  their  alone  resting-place.  But  the  scriptural  way 
of  protecting  them  from  their  danger  is  not  to  remit  the  prac- 
tical urgency  with  which  you  exhort  them  to  cast  off  their 
transgression,  for  this  would  be  in  opposition  to  scriptural  ex- 
ample ;  but,  along  with  the  practical  urgency,  to  give  them 
the  information  which  the  Bible  gives  respecting  the  ground 
of  acceptance — faith  in  the  Savior,  the  necessity  of  the  new 
birth,  the  alienated  state  of  the  heart  by  nature  from  God, 
which  may  consist  with  many  acts  of  outward  reformation  ; 
and  the  only  way  in  which  this  alienation  can  be  overcome, 
even  by  a  sense  of  God's  love  shed  abroad  in  it  by  the  Holy 
Ghost.  In  the  mean  time,  their  giving  up  what  is  plainly 
wrong  is  a  proof  of  earnestness.  It  is  a  putting  of  themselves 
into  the  attitude  of  seekers.  Nay,  what  is  more,  it  may  be 
the  expression  of  faith  in  its  infancy — the  beginning  of  the 
good  way  ;  the  day  of  small  things  ;  the  smoking  of  the  flax ; 
the  first  evidence  of  a  regard  to  the  Savior,  and  such  an  evi- 
dence as  He  may  reward  with  His  promised  manifestations. 
(John,  xiv.,  21.)  All  this  may  be  going  on  without  subjecting 
ourselves  to  the  necessity  of  waiting  till  a  certain  progress  be 
made  ere  we  preach  Christ  in  all  His  fullness  and  in  all  His 
freeness.  Both  may  be  brought  forward  from  the  very  outset. 
The  effect  of  the  one  is  to  throw  the  learner  into  the  attitude 
of  service  ;  the  effect  of  the  other  is  to  throw  him  into  the  at- 
titude of  faith  or  dependence,  or  perhaps,  most  frequently,  of 
dim  and  confused  expectation  of  some  great  privileges  which 
as  yet  he  sees  not  in  all  their  extent  and  in  all  their  precious- 
ness.  Now,  this  compound  attitude  of  service  on  the  one 
hand,  and  expectation  on  the  other,  is  what  I  think  I  see 
clearly  exemphfied  in  the  New  Testament,  as  by  the  disci- 
])lt'S  of  John  the  Baptist,  Nathaniel,  Zaccheu.s,  Comeliiis,  An- 


66      CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

na,  and  the  twelve  tribes.  (Acts,  xxvi.,  7.)  There  has  been 
a  sad  deal  of  puzzling  with  these  examples  by  the  orthodox, 
who,  instead  of  quietly  submitting  to  them,  have  labored  to 
dispose  of  them.  This  I  conceive  to  be  wrong;  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  these  nioderes  are  still  more  so  who  shelter  them- 
selves under  these  examples  in  their  opinion  about  the  suffi- 
ciency of  works.  Whereas  in  every  one  of  them  there  was  no 
resting  in  present  services  whatever,  but  a  carrying  forward 
to  Jesus  Christ  and  Him  crucified. 

Do  forgive  this  presumption  in  one  who  is  so  far  behind 
you  in  the  school  of  Christ,  and  who  feels  himself  at  the  mer^ 
threshold  of  the  subject.  Believe  me  to  be,  my  dear  madam, 
yours  with  great  regard, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  XLV. 

Glasgow. 
My  dear  Mrs.  Coutts — I  have  many  apologies  to  owe 
you  for  delaying  my  answer  so  long  to  your  most  interesting 
letter.  It  came  to  me  at  a  time  when  I  was  highly  excita- 
ble, and  touched  upon  the  most  excitable  topics  ;  and  be  as- 
sured that  the  gratifying  intelligence  it  contained  of  something 
like  a  good  impression  on  the  minds  of  my  much  loved  and 
much  regretted  people,  was  not  less  calculated  to  move  me 
to  the  tenderness  of  tears,  than  all  the  painfulness  of  a  re- 
moval which  in  actual  feeling  was  gi'eatly  more  severe  than 
any  thing  I  ever  anticipated.  I  could  not  but  feel  how  pure 
and  how  soothing  is  the  affection  of  Christians  when  I  read 
your  kind  and  interesting  epistle  ;  and  surely,  if  in  this  dead 
and  darkened  world  it  is  found  that  the  sympathy  of  our  com- 
mon Lord  can  draw  so  powerfully  and  unite  so  closely,  what 
must  be  the  transports  of  cordiality  which  await  us  in  the 
great  family  of  heaven,  when  that  Lord  who  is  now  the  ob- 
ject of  faith  so  dull  and  so  languid,  and  so  oppressed  with  the 
burden  of  sin  and  of  sense,  as  I  feel  it  to  be,  shall  become  the 
object  of  beatific  vision,  and  all  hearts  shall  join  in  one  un- 


MRS.  COUTTS.  67 


ceasing  song  to  Him  who  sitteth  on  the  throne,  and  to  the 
Lamb  forever  and  ever  ? 

I  thank  you  for  your  kind  notice  of  Alexander  Paterson. 
"Will  you  deliver  to  him  my  assurance  of  the  deep  interest  I 
take  in  his  progress  and  stability  as  a  Christian  ?  Tell  him 
from  me  that  he  must  look  to  the  things  of  others  as  well  as 
to  his  own  things,  and  that,  by  mixing  discretion  with  zeal, 
I  trust  that  he  may  do  much  through  the  private  channels  of 
his  acquaintance.  Both  you  and  he  will  be  interested  to 
know  that  two  of  my  inquiring  communicants  at  present  have 
assigned  the  reading  of  Alleine's  "  Alarm"  as  the  first  cause 
of  their  earnestness  in  the  matter  of  salvation  ;  and  I  trust 
that  this  will  encourage  him  to  persevere  in  a  method  which 
he  found  to  be  successful  on  a  former  occasion,  of  directing  the 
attention  of  others  to  such  books  as,  by  the  influence  of  the 
all-essential  Spirit,  may  set  a  going  in  the  souls  of  others  such 
a  good  work  of  seeking  as  may  find  its  accompHshment  in 
their  finding  those  things  which  belong  to  their  peace. 

Speaking  of  my  communicants,  do  you  know  I  have  been 
much  interested  in  the  young  who  have  come  forward  ?  They 
are  twenty-three  in  number,  and,  upon  the  whole,  I  am  much 
satisfied.  In  the  country,  the  principle  of  accommodation  to 
custom  is  much  stronger  than  in  the  town,  and  accordingly  I 
have  found  more  of  genuine  conviction,  and  more  of  real  and 
inquiring  earnestness,  at  present,  than  I  ever  recollect  on  any 
similar  occasion.  But  how  liable  to  delusion  we  all  are  upon 
this  subject  I  It  is  by  their  fruits  only  that  we  can  know 
them  ;  and  I  think  that  in  my  attendance  on  the  unhappy 
men  now  under  sentence  of  death,  one  of  the  most  heartless 
circumstances  in  the  matter  is  the  total  uncertainty  we  are 
under  of  the  actual  state-  of  their  hearts.  One  of  them  is  a 
Ptoman  Catholic,  and  I  was  much  struck  at  the  outset  with 
his  fluency  and  doctrinal  knowledge,  and,  above  all,  his  intrep- 
id composure  in  the  dreary  prospect  before  him.  I  thought, 
at  the  same  time,  that  there  was  a  want  of  softness  and  con- 
trition in  his  tone,  diflerent  from  what  I  would  have  expected 


68      CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

of  one  who  felt  his  own  demerits  and  obligations  to  a  Savio)  , 
and  now  I  am  strongly  inclined  to  suspect  that  his  priest  has 
been  ministering  a  peace  to  him  which  I  fear  is  no  peace. 
He  is  to  sujETer  to-morrow,  and  I  this  night  got  a  message 
from  him,  through  the  medium  of  his  own  clergyman,  that 
he  wishes  to  be  attended  by  him  exclusively. 

We  have  great  reason  to  be  thankful  that  we  have  got  com- 
fortable lodgings,  and  all  enjoy  an  average  share  of  health. 
My  dear  wife  is  taking  well  with  her  new  situation,  and 
Anne  is  making  rapid  progress.  Miss  Pratt  and  my  brother 
Charles  are  also  with  us.  I  limit  myself  to  a  given  number 
of  visits,  and  have  had  a  pretty  severe  contest  to  maintain 
with  my  friends  upon  the  subject.  We  dined  last  week  at 
Mrs.  Dinwiddle's  with  Dr.  Balfour's  people  :  her  kindness  is 
unbounded.  There  is  one  circumstance  I  can  not  but  admire 
in  Dr.  Balfour.  I  have  found  it  necessary  to  take  my  own 
way  in  several  things  which  went  contrary  to  his  wish  and  to 
his  opinion,  and  I  am  sure  that  my  conduct  in  reference  to 
him  has  been  such  as  would  have  impressed  an  ordinary  man 
with  the  idea  of  my  being  a  captious,  cross-grained,  and  truly 
cappernouted  personage.  Yet  there  is  a  Christian  kindness 
about  him  which  survives  all  this — which  remains  unquelled 
in  the  midst  of  all  annoyance,  and  which  has  compelled  such 
a  reverence  for  him  on  my  part,  as  I  trust  will  last  during  all 
the  remainder  of  our  earthly  pilgrimage. 

0  write  us  soon,  for  a  letter  from  you  is  indeed  a  very  great 
refreshment.  Tell  me  of  any  good  you  know  to  be  doing  in 
your  neighborhood.  I  will  not  say  much  of  the  state  of  things 
here  till  I  know  more  about  it.  I  have  heard  some  sermons 
from  others  since  I  came  here.  Dr.  Balfour  I  think  the  most 
useful  and  impressive  of  them  all.  Mr.  Love  preaches  in  a 
line  which  to  me  is  highly  interesting.  It  must  be  unaccept- 
able to  the  Independents,  those  men  of  simple  assent,  who 
make  it  so  very  simple  that  it  appears  to  me  to  take  in  only 
one  truth,  when,  in  fact,  the  Bible  takes  in  many,  and  further- 
more tells  us  that  he  is  instructed  in  the  mysteries  of  the  king- 


MRS.  COUTTS.  69 


dom  of  heaven  who  lays  up  in  the  treasure  of  his  understand- 
ing things  new  and  old.  It  is  true  in  the  most  absolute  and 
unconditional  sense  of  the  word,  that  by  faith  we  are  saved  ; 
but  it  is  a  faith  in  the  whole  of  God's  testimony,  and  if  you 
give  me  this,  you  give  me  a  Christian  who  feels  as  much 
peace  as  the  doctrine  of  Christ's  sufficiency  warrants  him  to 
do,  and  aspires  after  as  much  repentance  as  the  teaching  of 
Christ  lays  upon  him,  and  prays  for  as  much  aid  from  the 
Spirit  as  Christ  is  commissioned  to  bestow,  and  aims  at  all 
that  variety  of  grace  and  accomplishments  which  the  law 
and  the  example  of  Christ  oblige  him  to.  There  is  a  way  of 
dividing  Christ  so  as  to  make  some  part  of  it  stand  on  the 
foreground,  and  some  in  the  distant  and  almost  unperceived 
background  of  our  contemplation  ;  but  I  fear  that  many  a 
zealot  of  orthodoxy  will  have  been  found  in  this  way  to  have 
in  fact  rejected  Scripture  by  rejecting  the  profit  which  all 
Scripture  is  fitted  to  confer  upon  the  entire  believer.  Yours 
very  affectionately, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  XL VI. 

Glasgow,  28th  February. 
My  dear  Mrs.  Coutts — Your  most  refreshing  letter  I  got 
a  few  days  ago,  and  what  I  shall  first  reply  to  is  your  inquiry 
after  my  health,  which,  I  can  assure  you,  never  was  better 
than  I  now  feel  it  to  be.  I  take  my  own  way  as  to  invita- 
tions and  parties,  and  when  I  do  go  from  home,  it  is  general- 
ly to  some  mercantile  villa  in  the  neighborhood,  where  I  spend 
a  few  days  and  am  let  alone,  and  am  suffered  to  eat,  and 
study,  and  take  exercise  just  as  pleases  me.  I  am  surround- 
ed with  kindness,  and  the  only  thing  I  regret  is,  that  I  am 
sure  the  aspect  of  determination  by  which  I  hold  out  against 
its  numerous  and  ever-plying  proposals,  must  carry  in  it  the 
expression  of  gruffness  to  the  natives  of  this  dinner-giving 
city.  There  is  no  help  for  it,  however  ;  and  I  please  myself 
with  thinking  that,  under  God,  I  am  indebt«d  to  all  this  reg- 


70      CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

ularity  for  the  degree  of  strength  and  freedom  from  all  that 
is  physically  unpleasant  which  I  now  so  happily  enjoy.     .     . 

The  weather  has  got  fine  and  agreeable,  and  could  we  only 
realize  more  of  the  presence  of  God  in  our  souls — could  we 
carry  about  with  us  a  more  affecting  sense  of  eternity — could 
we  live  in  a  more  simple  reliance  on  the  promises  of  Christ, 
and  glory  more  in  His  cross,  and,  renouncing  every  depend- 
ence, admit  the  record  of  God  about  His  Son  as  the  exclusive 
and  unmingled  ground  of  all  our  securities  and  all  our  hopes — 
could,  I  say,  our  spiritual  interests  be  in  a  state  of  prosperity, 
we,  in  every  other  respect  as  to  health,  and  circumstances, 
and  kind  friends,  and  agreeable  family  tempers  and  affections 
among  us,  have  great  reason  to  bless  God,  the  giver  of  all 
comfort,  and  the  God  of  all  consolation.     .     .     . 

I  have  very  much  of  what  I  could  call  a  picturesque  mem- 
ory— that  is,  I  retain  a  vivid  impression  of  all  the  visible 
scenery  which  is  spread  around  a  much-loved  and  much-re- 
gretted neighborhood.  I  have  at  this  moment  a  panorama 
of  Dairsie  before  the  eye  of  my  fancy ;  and  the  Manse,  and 
Osnaburgh,  and  the  front  of  your  father's  house,  and  Craig- 
foodie,  with  the  whole  mountainous  line  which  defines  your 
northern  boundary,  pass  in  bright  succession  before  me.  I 
should  not  have  mentioned  this,  but  to  assure  you  that,  as  the 
places  have  taken  a  riveted  hold  on  my  memory,  so  the  per- 
sons have  taken  an  equally  firm  and  obstinate  hold  of  my  af- 
fections. I  bear  on  my  heart  a  great  degree  of  tenderness  for 
you  all.  I  think  I  see  a  strong  mark  of  nature  now  in  the 
names  that  crowd  so  many  of  Paul's  Epistles.  His  affection 
for  the  people  drew  him  out  to  name  them,  and  he  had  a 
pleasure  in  so  doing.  I  feel  the  same  pleasure  in  desiring  you 
to  remember  me  to  Dr.  M'Culloch  and  Miss  Collier,*  whom 
I  love  in  the  Lord  ;  Misses  M'CuUoch,  Nancy,  and  Robina ; 
Mr.  Swan,  whose  spiritual  progress  I  rejoice  in ;  and  last, 
though  not  least,  Alexander  Paterson.  Do  you  know  if  he 
received  a  letter  I  sent  him  some  weeks  ago  ?     I  should  have 

*  Who  frequently  resided  at  Dairsie,  with  her  friend,  Mrs.  Coutts. 


MRS.  COUTTS.  71 


written  Miss  Collier  and  Mr.  Swan  before  this,  but  they  shall 
come  next  in  turn.  Will  you  tell  Miss  Collier  that  I  met 
her  brother  once,  and  only  once,  since  I  came  to  Glasgow  ? 
I  have  had  a  good  deal  of  debate  with  the  ladies  about  their 
female  societies  of  late,  and  they  have  turned  a  good  deal 
quieter  upon  my  hand.  My  business  is  also  simplifying,  as  I 
refuse  every  work  that  is  not  strictly  ministerial.  The  load 
is  enough  to  crush  the  shoulders  of  twenty  clergymen  ;  but 
I  think  it  is  their  own  fault  to  submit  to  it.  May  God  pros- 
per your  soul.  Do  let  me  have  a  letter  soon  from  your  quar- 
ter. Mrs.  Chalmers  joins  in  compliments.  I  am,  my  dear 
Mrs.  Coutts,  yours  most  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  XLVII. 

Burntisland,  18th  December,  1817. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Coutts — I  received  yours  while  at  Anster. 
One  of  the  ingredients  in  the  mortification  I  felt  at  the  very 
unexpected  recall  I  got  at  Kilmany*  was,  that  it  completely 
put  an  end  to  my  hope  of  seeing  your  much-loved  neighbor- 
hood during  this  excursion.  I  left  Anster  last  week  with  the 
purpose  of  preaching  at  Dunfermline,  but  have  been  arrested 
in  my  progress  by  a  cold,  which  has  hung  about  me  for  some 
weeks,  but  which  I  am  hopeful  is  now  getting  away. 

I  never  do  leave  Glasgow  without  returning  to  it  with  a 
new  experimental  lesson  on  the  positive  hazard  and  criminal- 
ity of  involving  myself  in  too  many  preaching  engagements, 
and  I  very  much  fear  that,  unless  an  invariable  rule  be  laid 
down  and  acted  up  to,  the  urgency  of  people  who,  in  the 
shape  of  kind  friends,  and  zealous  lovers  of  that  which  is  good, 
and  most  confident  advisers  of  that  which  it  is  duty  for  me  to 
attempt,  will  at  length  compel  me  to  retire,  either  by  death 
or  by  resignation,  from  the  work  of  preaching  altogether. 

Your  letter  refreshed  me  greatly  ;  and  I  never  do  get  a 
favor  of  that  kind,  either  from  you  or  from  Miss  Collier,  with- 
out the  feeling  that  it  is  altogether  suited  to  me  ;  for,  in 
*  See  Memoirs,  vol.  ii.,  p.  137. 


72      CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

truth,  my  dear  madam,  I  feel  that  I  have  got  no  farther  than 
to  the  threshold  of  those  great  topics  which  constitute  the  life 
and  the  aliment  of  a  believer.  I  long  to  realize  the  joys,  and 
the  exercises,  and  the  habits  of  experimental  religion  ;  to  love 
Christ  as  fervently  as  good  Samuel  Rutherford — whose  let- 
ters I  am  now  reading — seems  to  have  done  ;  to  have  more 
devotedness,  and  more  spirituality,  and  more  of  the  real  feel- 
ing and  desire  of  one  who  is  crucified  to  the  world,  and  alive 
only  unto  God.  But  all  this  I  am  most  woefully  short  of  It 
comes  to  me  all  in  word  and  not  in  power ;  and  little  do  you 
know  what  a  barren  and  in  every  way  heartless  subject  you 
have  to  deal  with.  But  the  error  lies  in  thinking  that  I  can 
work  my  own  way  to  my  own  enlargement ;  in  not  practically 
clinging  to  Christ  as  my  alone  sufficiency ;  in  not  simply  lean- 
ing upon  the  promises  which  are  yea  and  amen,  and  praying 
in  faith  to  Him  from  whom  every  good  and  perfect  gift  Com- 
eth. I  entreat  your  prayers,  and  those  of  your  respected  fa- 
ther and  Miss  Collier.  I  wish  you  had  told  me  more  par- 
ticularly about  her.  The  wheeling  variety  of  my  present  sit- 
uation may  diminish  my  intercourse  with  my  old  acquaint- 
ances, but  sure  I  am  that  it  has  not  abated  the  regard  I  feel 
for  the  Christian  society  of  your  neighborhood.  Will  you 
give  my  kindest  remembrances  to  your  father,  Misses  Collier, 
Coutts,  and  M'Culloch  ?  Tell  Alexander  Paterson  how  much 
I  regretted  the  shortness  of  my  interview  with  him,  and  what 
a  pleasant  thing  it  would  have  been  to  me  to  have  gone  over 
to  Dairsie  from  Kilmany  with  him  on  the  Sunday  evening 
that  I  preached  there.  Believe  me  to  be,  my  dear  Mrs. 
Coutts,  yours  most  affectionately,         Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  XLVIII. 

Trackboat,  26th  September^  1818. 
My  dear  Madam — I  am  thus  far  on  my  way  to  Glasgow 
— looking  behind  me  with  most  affectionate  regret,  and  be- 
fore me  with  a  desolate  feeling  of  coldness  and  apprehen- 
sion     God  has  not  been  pleased  to  turn  my  taste  and  my 


MRS.  COUTTS.  73 


liking  toward  my  present  situation.  I  am  sure  I  do  the  peo- 
ple of  Glasgow  great  injustice  ;  but  I  have  never  yet  had  any 
homeward  associations  with  that  town.  Still  there  is  in  it  a 
great  quantity  of  Christian  worth;  and  it  is,  in  truth,  a  most 
unseemly  exhibition,  that  I  should  receive  so  much  in  the 
way  of  affection,  and  render  so  little  back  again.  But  it  is 
the  glare,  and  the  publicity,  and  the  continual  controversy, 
and  the  jarring  of  human  faction,  and  the  total  want  of  that 
kind  and  familiar  intimacy  which  gave  such  a  charm  to  all 
my  intercourse  with  Dairsie  and  Kilmany,  that  have  with- 
ered up  the  scene  of  my  present  duties,  and  spread  something 
like  the  aspect  of  wilderness  over  the  whole  extent  of  it.  I 
have  great  need  of  your  prayers  that  I  may  be  more  submiss- 
ive to  the  will  of  God — that  I  may  give  myself  entirely  over 
into  His  hands,  that  I  may  be  enabled  to  do  His  work,  and 
look  not  any  where  on  this  side  of  time  for  my  pleasant  rest- 
ing-place. Oh,  that  I  could  find  a  readier  access  to  the  con- 
science— that  I  could  manifest  the  truth  more  powerfully 
and  more  permanently — that  I  could  keep  by  the  simplicity 
that  is  in  Christ,  and  beware  of  making  His  cross  of  none 
effect  by  the  words  of  man's  wisdom  I 

I  think  more  favorably  of  Fife,  in  the  Christian  sense  of  the 
word,  than  I  did  on  any  former  excursion.  There  is  more 
seeking  than  I  ever  observed  before  ;  but  such  is  the  delusion 
of  the  human  heart,  that  one  may  find  rest  in  the  conscious- 
ness of  being  a  seeker.  One  may  please  himself  with  his 
earnestness,  and,  going  no  farther,  may  cease  to  be  earnest 
any  longer.  One  may  receive  an  impulse,  and  yet  stop  short 
of  salvation.  One  may,  in  fact,  be  establishing  a  righteous- 
ness of  his  own,  when,  like  Paul,  it  should  be  his  supreme  de- 
sire to  win  Christ,  and  to  be  found  in  Him,  and  so  submit 
himself  unto  the  righteousness  of  God.  Believe  me,  my  dear 
Mrs.  Coutts,  yours  most  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

V.  D 


74      CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

No.  XLIX. 

January^  1817. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Coutts — I  received  your  kind  letter  some 
time  ago,  and  never  receive  any  letter  from  you  without  rec- 
ognizing the  style  and  character  of  one  of  the  great  spiritual 
family.  It  is  a  family  composed,  I  believe,  of  the  professing 
of  many  different  creeds,  and  the  members  of  many  differ- 
ent denominations,  and  yet  the  difference  can  not  be  such  as 
to  impair  that  oneness  vv^hich  the  Great  Head  of  the  Church 
ascribes  to  all  his  follovv^ers.  But  I  have  seen  so  many  ex- 
amples of  late  of  satisfying  evidence,  that  the  root  of  the  mat- 
ter might  be  in  the  mind  of  a  Presbyterian,  and  an  Independ- 
ent, and  a  Baptist,  and  an  Episcopalian,  and  an  Arminian 
Methodist,  and  even  a  Roman  Catholic,  as  disposes  me  very 
much  to  withdraw  my  attention  from  the  distinctions  of  man, 
and  fix  it  on  the  message  of  God,  as  it  comes  to  us  in  its  di- 
rect and  original  form  in  the  book  of  His  own  counsel.  There 
is  danger  of  resting  in  the  face  of  such  grounds,  of  being  satis- 
fied with  names  without  ideas,  of  the  kingdom  of  God  coming 
to  us  in  language  only  and  not  in  power,  of  holding  converse 
with  an  argumentative  theologian,  while  an  utter  stranger  to 
converse  with  the  Author  and  the  Finisher  of  Faith,  And 
therefore  it  is  that,  when  satiated  and  bewildered  among  hu- 
man illustrations  of  the  truth,  I  think  it  a  good  escape  for  the 
mind  to  look  to  the  truth  as  it  is  in  the  Bible — to  sit  down 
to  it  just  as  I  was  reading  it  for  the  first  time,  with  the  con- 
scious ignorance  and  docility  of  a  child — to  stir  myself  there, 
that  I  may  lay  hold  of  God,  and  lay  hold  of  Christ,  just  as 
God  has  set  Him  forth  to  me. 

I  have  been  greatly  refreshed  by  a  visit  from  a  truly  spiritual 
man,  Mr.  Erskine  of  Linlathen.  His  whole  soul  is  in  Chris- 
tianity— resting  all  his  hope  on  the  basis  of  Christ's  death — 
and  dissolved  in  tenderness  and  admiration  at  the  blended 
love  and  holiness  of  God  as  manifested  in  that  transaction. 
T  know  nothing  that  more  realizes  Christ  to  us  than  when  we 
rt-ad  Him  in  one  of  His  own  living  epistles,  than  when  we 


MRS.  COUTTS.  75 

see  His  workmanship  before  us  in  the  heart  and  habits  of  a 
fellow-Christian. 

Mrs.  Chalmers  was  complaining,  and  so  seriously,  some 
weeks  ago,  that  I  was  much  alarmed  for  her.  Appearances, 
however,  are  again  more  favorable,  and  I  desire,  from  this 
lesson,  to  learn  the  precariousness  of  all  earthly  blessings — 
to  build  my  foundation  somewhere  else  than  in  this  vale  of 
suffering  and  of  change — to  cast  it  deep  on  the  faith  of  the 
Gospel,  that  I  may  have  the  Giver  of  eternal  life  for  my  friend, 
and  eternal  life  itself  for  my  inheritance. 

I  saw  lately  the  observation,  that  justification  was  only 
the  means  to  an  end — that  the  great  and  ultimate  object  of 
Christ's  undertaking  was  to  redeem  us  from  all  iniquity,  and 
purify  us  unto  Himself  a  pecuhar  people,  zealous  of  good 
works.  Is  there  no  danger  of  an  inquirer  being  satisfied  with 
justification  as  the  object  in  which  he  terminates?  It  cer- 
tainly is  not  the  object  in  which  Christ  terminates,  nor  will 
the  accomplishment  of  it  be  enough  to  make  out  that  trav- 
ail of  His  soul  upon  us  by  which  He  is  satisfied.  Let  us, 
therefore,  while  we  lodge  all  our  security  for  acceptance  on 
His  propitiation,  go  zealously  on  in  co-operation  with  Him, 
as  the  Lord  our  strength  and  our  purifier — that  He  may  be 
magnified  in  our  bodies — and  that,  by  growing  in  holiness, 
we  may  be  fit  for  the  only  happiness  which  Heaven  has  to 
offer.     I  remain,  my  dear  madam,  yours  very  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  L. 

Glasgow,  8th  February,  1822. 
My  dear  Madam — It  grieves  me  to  have  deferred  writing 
you  so  long.  I  had  a  very  heavy  arrear  of  correspondence 
upon  me,  which  I  have  not  yet  liquidated  wholly.  I  sympa- 
thize most  deeply  with  you  all  in  the  result  of  your  applica- 
tion to  Lord  Elgin. =*     I  am  not  at  all  clear  that  it  is  right 

*  An  application  to  Lord  Elgin,  as  Patron,  relative  to  a  ministe- 
rial appointment. 


76      CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

to  urge  his  lordship  in  the  face  of  a  private  engagement.  I 
see  nothing  for  it  but  quietly  to  wait  that  counsel  of  the  Lord, 
which  alone  shall  stand  after  all  human  desires  have  been 
tried  and  found  ineffectual.  There  is  one  very  open  and  dis- 
tinct line  of  duty  for  all  who  feel  concerned  in  the  religious 
prosperity  of  your  most  interesting  parish,  and  that  is,  to  mul- 
tiply as  much  as  in  you  hes  the  lay  securities  for  the  growth 
and  transmission  of  a  Christian  spirit  among  the  families.  In 
this  view  I  hold  all  your  schools  to  be  of  capital  importance, 
and  I  would  not  have  you  to  underrate  the  capabilities  even 
of  the  humblest  laborers  in  the  cause.  I  should  not  be  sur- 
prised if  Alexander  Paterson,  in  his  day  and  generation,  shall 
be  found  to  have  turned  more  unto  righteousness  than  many 
of  the  most  esteemed  and  evangelical  clergy  of  our  Church.* 
At  the  same  time,  it  is  of  prime  importance  to  a  parish  that 
there  be  in  it  a  sound,  and  scriptural,  and,  withal,  an  exem- 
plary clergyman.  I  am  delighted  with  your  account  of  Mr. 
Simpson,  and  also  with  the  testimony  that  Alexander  Pater- 
son has  borne  of  Mr.  Cook  in  Kilmany. 

I  have  been  reading  Thomas  a  Kempis  lately  on  the  "  Imi- 
tation of  Jesus  Christ" — a  very  impressive  performance.  Some 
would  say  of  it  that  it  was  not  enough  evangelical.  He  cer- 
tainly does  not  often  affirm,  in  a  direct  and  ostensible  manner, 
the  righteousness  that  is  by  faith.  But  he  proceeds  on  this 
doctrine,  and  many  an  incidental  recognition  does  he  bestow 
upon  it ;  and  I  am  not  sure  but  that  this  implies  a  stronger  and 
more  habitual  settlement  of  mind  respecting  it,  than  when  it 
is  thrust  forward  and  repeated,  and  re-repeated,  with  a  kind 
of  ultra-orthodoxy,  as  if  anxious  to  vindicate  one's  soundness, 
and  to  acquit  one's  self  of  a  kind  of  exacted  homage  to  the  form 
of  sound  words.  I  think  it  of  mighty  importance  to  lay  down 
the  extent  of  the  required  sanctification,  and  strenuously  to 
urge  it.     I  have  been  thinking  of  the  Savior's  expostulation 

*  See  a  very  interesting  Memoir  of  Alexander  Paterson,  entitled 
"The  Missionary  of  Kilmany,  by  the  Rev.  John  Baillie."  Edin- 
burgh, 1853. 


MRS.  COUTTS.  77 


with  Nicodemus  in  this  view — "  If  thou  believest  not  when  I 
tell  you  of  earthly  things,  how  can  ye  believe  when  I  tell 
you  of  heavenly  things?"  If  we  believe  not  in  the  change 
that  must  take  place  upon  the  earthly  subject,  even  man,  ere 
he  can  be  admitted  to  the  Kingdom,  we  may  feign,  but  w^e  do 
not  really  put  any  belief  in  the  change,  from  wrath  to  com- 
placency, that  has  taken  place  in  the  mind  of  the  Heavenly 
Lawgiver  toward  those  who  flee  for  refuge  to  the  great  pro- 
pitiation. The  earthly  thing  which  Christ  had  spoken  of  was 
regeneration  ;  the  heavenly  thing  which  He  proceeded  to  speak 
of  was  the  atonement,  li  we  believe  not  the  one,  we  have  no 
real  belief  of  the  other. 

But  nothing  can  be  more  precious  than  Romaine.  His 
three  treatises  on  "  Faith"  are  all  overrun  with  the  flavor 
of  the  very  essence  of  the  Gospel. 

I  have  no  news.  A  perpetual  bustle,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
a  stir  and  an  activity  in  Christian  things,  which  I  regard  as 
hopeful  in  this  place.  May  God  bless  you  and  yours.  I  al- 
ways rejoice  in  a  letter  from  Dairsie.  I  offer  my  most  affec- 
tionate regards  to  the  venerable  Doctor,  Miss  CoUier,  Miss 
Coutts,  Miss  Nancy,  Mr.  Simpson,  and  last,  though  not  least, 
Alexander  Paterson.  Mrs.  Chalmers  joins  me  in  best  com- 
pliments,     I  am,  my  dear  madam,  yours  very  affectionately, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  LI. 

St.  Andrews,  2M  April,  1827. 
My  dear  Madam — I  had  very  great  pleasure  in  the  receipt 
and  perusal  of  your  much  esteemed  letter.  But  why,  my  dear 
Mrs.  Coutts,  do  you  talk  o(intrudi?ig  upon  me  1  Our  inter- 
course has  of  late  been  rare,  and  our  correspondence  far  less 
frequent  than  it  ought  to  have  been.  But  I  never  can  forget 
the  Christian  kindness  and  encouragement  which  I  enjoyed 
under  the  roof  of  your  excellent  father,  and  all  the  friendly 
converse  that  I  have  had  both  with  yourself  and  Miss  Collier. 
Dairsie  is  one  of  the  most  memorable  portions  in  my  retrospect 


78      CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

of  the  past ;  and  all  the  feelings  which  I  had  then  are  undi- 
minished by  change  of  scene  or  distance  of  time. 

My  mother's  was  indeed  a  most  triumphant  death.  Her 
peace  and  joy  were  altogether  in  believing.  Her  Christianity 
was  objective,  and  that  of  one  who  looked  outward.  She 
read  Owen's  "  Spiritual  Mindedness"  some  months  ago  ;  but 
she  remarked  that  when  she  looked  only  to  herself,  she  found 
that  all  was  corruption,  but  that  all  her  trust  was  in  the  Sav- 
ior. She  expressed  an  abundance  of  peace,  which  flowed 
through  her  heart  like  a  mighty  river. 

Mrs.  Chalmers  and  our  children  are  well.  Do  give  my 
kindest  regards  to  Miss  Collier  and  Mr.  Simpson,  in  which 
Mrs.  Chalmers  joins.  Believe  me,  my  dear  madam,  yours 
most  afiectionately,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  LII. 
CoLiNswELL,  BY  BuRNTisLAND,  2d  April,  1834. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Coutts — Miss  Young  is  just  leaving  us  ; 
but  I  can  not  let  her  go  without  assuring  you  both  of  the 
gratification  and  the  gratitude  which  I  felt  in  consequence 
of  your  kind  and  liberal  offer  of  Thursday  last.  It  is  true 
that  the  means  for  my  first  enterprise  are  already  provided  ;* 
but,  should  I  succeed,  I  have  still  a  second  in  reserve,  re- 
specting which  I  may,  in  the  course  of  months,  communicate 
with  my  friends,  and  you  among  the  number,  my  only  anxiety 
being  that  you  do  not  make  an  inconvenient  sacrifice. 

I  observe  that,  in  spite  of  my  explanatory  letter,  there  is 
still  great  misrepresentation  of  our  objects.  It  is  a  marvel- 
ous time  ;  and  though  I  feel  it  my  duty  to  labor  while  it  is 
day,  yet  I  can  not  help  the  presentiment  of  a  dark  midway 
passage  that  must  be  described  ere  the  world  shall  emerge 
into  the  peace  and  righteousness  of  its  latter-day  glory. 

Meanwhile,  I  can  not  describe  how  inexpressibly  soothing 
it  is  to  be  sustained  by  the  countenance  and  afiection  of  one's 
oldest  and  best-tried  Christian  friends.     You  have  had  much 
*  See  Memoirs,  vol.  iii.,  p.  445,  446. 


MRS.  COUTTS.  79 


to  exercise  you  ;  and  it  is  my  earnest  prayer,  that  in  the  light 
of  God's  reconciled  countenance,  ever  growing  into  brighter 
and  more  cheering  manifestations,  you  may  increase  day  by 
day  in  that  peace  and  joy  which  passeth  all  understanding. 
Ever,  believe  me,  my  dear  Mrs.  Coutts,  your  most  attached 
and  grateful  friend,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  LIII. 

Penicuik,  12th  July,  1834. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Coutts — May  God  grant  the  fulfillment  of 
your  wishes  in  regard  to  the  effect  of  my  own  solitude  upon 
my  heart  and  principles.  It  gives  me  a  fresh  view  of  my 
native  ungodliness,  that  even  in  this  deep  retreat  I  cleave  so 
much  to  the  things  of  sense  and  of  time.  I  am  never  better 
than  when  I  take  a  simple  and  objective  view  of  the  great 
propitiation,  and  look  on  the  sunshine  of  God's  reconciled 
countenance  to  be  an  element  I  am  as  free  to  rejoice  in  as  I 
am  to  breathe  the  air  that  is  around  me,  or  to  open  my  eyes 
on  the  light  of  Nature. 

I  beg  you  will  excuse  the  brevity  of  this  letter — a  poor  re- 
turn for  your  deeply  interesting  communication.  But  the  truth 
is,  I  am  ordered  to  work  as  little  as  possible.  The  most  promi- 
nent of  my  symptoms  is  an  almost  perpetual  noise  in  my  head, 
which  is  aggravated  always  by  exertion.* 

Give  me  a  place  and  an  interest  in  your  prayers.  Ever 
believe  me,  my  dear  Mrs.  Coutts,  yours  very  affectionately, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  LIV. 

Burntisland,  9th  July,  1841. 
My  very  dear  Mrs.  Coutts — Be  assured  that  I  feel  veiy 
calm  and  confident  on  the  Church  question  —  not  on  the 
ground  of  the  Parliamentary  Returns,  or  in  the  assured  pros- 
pect of  any  thing  being  done  in  our  favor  by  the  present  or 
any  future  government,  but  on  the  ground  that  our  way  of 
*  See  Memoirs,  vol.  iii.,  p.  433-444. 


80      CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

duty  is  clear,  and  that  if  our  ways  please  God,  He  will  make 
our  enemies  to  be  at  peace  with  us. 

Should  the  Establishment  be  broken  up,  I  think  that,  if 
true  to  our  principles,  there  is  a  very  great  field  of  usefulness 
before  us,  and  that  we  need  be  at  no  loss  for  turning  our- 
selves to  such  openings  for  the  Christian  good  of  the  people 
as  will  amply  compensate  for  all  the  hardships  to  which  we 
might  in  consequence  be  exposed.  Ever  believe  me,  my  dear 
Mrs.  Coutts,  yours  with  the  greatest  esteem  and  regard, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  LV. 

MoRNiNGSiDE,  13th  December,  1842, 
My  dear  Mrs.  Coutts — It  gives  me  great  pain  to  decline 
your  application  for  myself,  though  I  shall  transmit  your  re- 
quest to  Mr.  Hanna,  and  it  will  afford  me  great  pleasure  if 
he  can  comply  with  it. 

I  never  do  preach  but  with  a  serious  invasion  on  my  press 
of  study,  and  so  a  very  hurtful  encroachment  on  an  object  to 
which  I  should  like,  if  I  were  permitted  it,  to  devote  all  my 
strength  for  the  remainder  of  my  days,  and  that  is,  the  com- 
pletion of  my  theological  lectures  for  the  benefit  of  my  stu- 
dents and  as  an  ofiering  to  the  cause  of  theological  education. 
The  troubles  of  the  Church,  and  my  implication  therewith, 
have  deprived  me  of  years  of  preparation  ;  and  one  of  the 
crudest  effects  of  any  public  appearance  I  make  is,  that  it  is 
followed  up  by  a  host  of  applications,  some  of  them  from  my 
best  and  dearest  friends,  which  I  feel  it  most  difficult,  but, 
withal,  most  necessary  and  incumbent  upon  me  to  reject. 
This  distresses,  but  it  must  not  influence  me.  I  may  not  be 
able  to  justify  these  refusals  to  others  ;  but  the  constant  feel- 
ing of  exhaustion,  wherewith  I  am  at  all  times  haunted  and 
well-nigh  overborne,  forms  to  my  own  mind  and  conscience 
a  sufficient  exoneration.  I  ever  am,  my  dear  Mrs.  Coutts, 
yours  very  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 


MISS  COLLIER.  gi 


LETTERS  TO  MISS  COLLIER. 

No.  LVI. 

KiLMANY,  17th  December^  1814. 
My  dear  Miss  Collier — I  some  days  ago  sent  my  letter 
of  acceptance  to  Glasgow.  I  know  well  that  there  is  a  dis- 
position to  withhold  sympathy  from  that  suffering  which  a 
man  entails  upon  himself  by  his  own  voluntary  act.  In  cases 
like  the  present,  however,  I  am  not  sure  that  this  is  altogeth- 
er fair  ;  for,  independently  of  my  not  being  my  own  master, 
but  the  servant  of  another  in  the  determination  of  this  matter, 
I  could  not  have  escaped  suffering  by  the  adoption  of  either 
side  of  the  alternative  ;  for  by  accepting,  I  bring  down  upon 
myself  all  the  bitterness  of  regi-et  at  being  torn  away  from 
a  much-loved  parish  and  neighborhood,  and  by  refusing,  I 
would  have  brought  down  upon  myself  the  severest  remon- 
strances from  the  most  eminent  Christian  friends  I  have  in 
this  world.  As  it  is,  I  feel  myself  in  a  situation  altogether 
unlike  any  former  experience  I  ever  had.  And  if,  to  allevi- 
ate the  pain  of  my  approaching  separation,  I  must  sit  as 
loosely  as  possible  to  the  things  and  the  people  around  me,  I 
trust  I  may  learn  from  it  the  still  greater  and  more  salutary 
lesson  of  sitting  loose  to  all  the  interests  and  concerns  of  that 
world  which  the  likeliest  of  us  all  must  soon  take  our  departure 
from.  This  tenderness  about  leaving  my  people  is  one  thing, 
and  may  exist  in  a  breast  where  there  is  no  serious  concern 
for  their  souls,  which  is  another  thing.  And  O  that  the  same 
God  who  sent  forth  His  mighty  Spirit  to  convert  three  thou- 
sand souls  at  the  utterance  of  one  sermon,  would  so  arm  me 
with  arguments,  and  so  press  them  home  with  efficiency  upon 
the  hearts  of  a  people  made  willing  and  obedient  in  the  day 
of  His  power,  that  the  few  remaining  months  of  my  residence 
among  them  might  witness  the  accession  of  many  sons  and 
daughters  to  righteousness.  We  would  have  been  much  the 
better  of  a  visit  from  you  had  your  engagements  permitted 
it.     My  wife  regrets  your  absence   on  this  occasion.     \\iU 

D  2 


82      CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

you  let  us  know  when  we  may  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing 
you  ? 

Never  forget  that  a  private  individual  is  invested  with  the 
care  and  the  keepership  of  others,  as  well  as  a  minister  of  the 
Gospel ;  and  it  is  my  prayer,  that  wherever  you  are,  you  may 
be  a  leaven  for  good  by  your  example,  and  conversation,  and 
prayers.  I  earnestly  crave  the  benefit  of  your  intercessions 
in  behalf  of  myself  and  of  my  parish.  My  wife  joins  in  most 
cordial  compliments  and  wishes.  I  am,  my  dear  madam, 
yours  most  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  LVII. 

KiLMANY  Manse,  20th  April,  1815. 

My  dear  Miss  Collier — I  was  greatly  concerned  to  see 
Mrs.  Coutts  so  poorly  on  Tuesday,  and  I  send  this  messenger 
to  you,  asking  to  know  particularly  about  her. 

May  her  spirit  be  upheld  in  this  the  day  of  her  extremity ; 
may  she  be  enabled  to  throw  herself  upon  the  Savior.  The 
Bible  has  taken  many  ways  of  stating  to  us  His  sufficiency, 
as  if,  lest  one  way  of  it  should  not  be  apprehended,  another 
way  may  send  home  the  truth  with  demonstration  and  power. 
Thus  it  sometimes  sets  Christ  before  us  in  the  light  of  the  sec- 
ond Adam,  and  tells  us  that  He  is  more  than  able  to  repair  all 
the  mischief  done  by  the  first  Adam.  Well,  then,  all  this  guilt, 
all  this  misery,  all  this  helplessness,  by  which  I  feel  myself  bur- 
dened and  overdone,  was  entailed  upon  me  by  the  Fall ;  and  the 
very  errand  on  which  Christ  came  was  to  sweep  the  whole  ca- 
lamity, in  all  its  extent  and  in  all  its  soreness,  away  from  me. 
Let  us  do  Him  the  honor  to  believe  that  what  He  came  to  do 
He  is  able  to  do.  Let  us  be  ready  to  say  "  Yea"  to  His  ques- 
tion, "  Believest  thou  that  I  am  able  to  do  this  ?" — and  ac- 
cording to  our  faith,  so  shall  it  be  done.  It  is  my  prayer, 
amid  the  trying  circumstances  in  which  our  friend  now  is,  she 
may  feel  the  richness  of  this  truth,  that  the  Great  Intercessor 
liveth  ;  that  He  is  full  of  tenderness  ;  that  He  is  indeed  a 
merciful  High-priest ;  and  that  He  knows  well  how  to  succor 


MISS  COLLIER.  83 


her,  for  there  is  not  one  of  her  temptations  which  He  Himself 
has  not  struggled  with.  There  is  no  want  of  willingness  in 
God  ;  it  is  in  our  own  heart  that  the  straitening  lies.  He 
calls  upon  us  to  lay  hold  of  His  strength,  that  we  may  make 
peace  with  Him  ;  and  adds  that,  in  so  doing,  we  shall  make 
peace  with  Him.  Wonderful  assurance  I  It  is  just  saying, 
Lean,  and  you  shall  be  supported  ;  throw  yeurself  upon  me, 
and  I  will  bear  you  up  ;  cast  your  burden  to  me,  and  I  will 
sustain  it.  Oh  that  this  faith  were  wrought  in  us  with  pow- 
er, and  the  precious  fruits  of  faith  were  getting  more  discern- 
ible every  day  upon  our  hearts  ;  that  we  were  dying  unto  the 
world,  and  unto  all  its  distinctions  and  pleasures  ;  that  the 
realities  of  the  spiritual  and  unseen  world  were  taking  a  more 
effectual  hold  of  us  ;  that  we  were  walking  by  faith  and  not 
by  sight ;  and,  knowing  our  insufficiency  for  these  things, 
were  drawing  by  prayer  out  of  the  fullness  that  is  in  Christ 
Jesus,  all  our  light,  and  help,  and  direction. 
Do  write  me  by  the  bearer.     Yours  most  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  LVIII. 

Glasgow,  1815. 
My  dear  Miss  Collier — I  received  your  letter  with  much 
joy,  and  felt  greatly  refreshed  by  the  perusal  of  it.  Be  as- 
sured that  you  can  not  derive  a  greater  satisfaction  from  our 
correspondence  with  each  other  than  I  do  myself;  and  I  look 
back  to  our  many  walks  and  many  conversations  as  those 
seasons  which  memory  loves  to  dwell  upon,  when  I  took  sweet 
counsel  together  with  a  Christian  friend.  I  have  not  yet  met 
with  any  thing  here  that  can  replace  what  I  feel  the  want 
of,  though,  at  the  same  time,  1  feel  my  heart  slowly  opening 
itself  to  the  impression  of  that  kindness,  and  worth,  and  ster- 
ling Christianity  which  surrounds  me.  But  I  am  as  yet  too 
much  lost,  and  my  attention  too  much  divided  among  the 
general  society  of  the  place,  to  have  many  strong  drawings 
in  the  way  of  individual  friendship.     This  general  inter- 


84      CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

course,  indeed,  has  the  effect  of  keeping  me  asunder  for  some 
time  from  my  best  friends.  I  can  not  see  much  of  Dr.  Bal- 
four. Mrs.  Dinwiddie  arrived  a  week  ago,  and  I  had  to  re- 
sist her  kindness,  which  I  the  more  regret,  because  I  know  it 
to  be  genuine  and  sincere  ;  but  I  shall  spend  a  day  with  her 
in  about  a  fortnight.  There  are  some  very  interesting  peo- 
ple among  my  own  hearers,  whose  acquaintance  I  mean  to 
cultivate  ;  but  at  present  the  invitations  come  so  thick  upon, 
me,  that  I,  who  have  restricted  myself  to  a  limited  number 
of  teas  and  dinners,  have  nothing  for  it  but  to  put  many  of 
these  away  from  me.  The  following  are  the  texts  I  have 
preached  upon  since  I  came  to  Glasgow:  1  Thess.,  v.,  25  ;  2 
Cor.,  X.,  12  ;  Mark,  xii.,  37  ;  Romans,  viii.,  7  ;  Acts,  xxvi,  25  ; 
Phil.,  iv.,  13  ;  Matt.,  iii.,  2  ;  Job,  ix.,  30-33  ;  Psalm  Ixxxv., 
10  ;  Luke,  i.,  74,  75  ;   1  Cor.,  iii.,  1  ;  Luke,  ii.,  14. 

I  do  find  in  myself  a  tendency  to  speak  beyond  my  strength, 
but  I  have  great  reason  to  be  thankful  that  I  am  pretty  well 
in  health.  Grace  and  Anne  are  both  well.  Miss  M.  Balfour 
is  with  us  at  present.  Charles  came  a  few  days  ago,  and  we 
have  two  boarders  ;  so  that,  with  Miss  Pratt,  our  home  estab- 
lishment is  pretty  extensive  at  present ;  and,  as  I  refuse  call- 
ers before  twelve,  and  go  out  only  a  certain  number  of  times, 
I  trust  I  shall  have  a  sufficiency  of  time  for  the  preparations 
of  the  pulpit.  I  have  only  been  visiting  sick  persons  since  I 
came,  but  I  trust  that  I  shall  extend  this  part  of  my  duty.  I 
have  been  twice  with  two  men  under  sentence  of  death,  and 
mean  to  visit  them  occasionally  till  the  day  of  their  execu- 
tion. One,  a  Roman  Catholic,  is  very  much  impressed,  and 
seems  to  be  mainly  right  in  his  doctrinal  notions.  The  other 
is  very  ignorant,  and  I  thought  very  hard  at  my  first  visit.  I 
think,  however,  that  I  have  made  progress  with  him  since  ; 
but,  alas  !  appearances  are  most  fallacious,  and  it  is,  indeed, 
a  work  of  great  seriousness,  and  demanding  a  feeling  of  de- 
pendence on  God  for  wisdom  to  divide  the  word  of  truth 
rightly  on  such  an  occasion. 

Tell  Mrs.  Coutts  that  I  mean  to  write  her  shortly.    I  should 


MISS  COLLIER.  85 


have  written  her  before  I  wrote  you  ;  but  the  truth  is,  I  sat 
down  to  this  letter  under  a  general  impression  of  debt  to  your 
neighborhood,  and  as  you  are  my  most  recent  creditor,  you 
were  most  in  my  mind  at  the  time  of  my  beginning  to  write. 
I  can  not  describe  the  soft  but  mournful  tenderness  I  feel 
when  I  think  of  your  neighborhood,  nor  will  I  disguise  the 
very  warm  affection  I  have  both  for  yourself  and  Mrs.  Coutts, 
and  the  friendship  and  veneration  I  feel  for  Dr.  M'Culloch  ; 
along  with  these,  will  you  remember  me  to  Mr.  Ewan  and 
Miss  Robina?  Your  sister,  Miss  Mary,  I  desire  to  be  remem- 
bered to.  Tell  Alexander  Paterson  how  much  I  am  interest- 
ed in  him,  and  that  I  trust  he  will  never  let  go  the  begin- 
ning of  his  confidence.  Give  my  kindest  regards  to  him,  and 
let  him  send  me  by  you,  if  he  does  not  incline  to  write  him- 
self, all  the  Christian  news  of  his  neighborhood.  Give  my 
best  and  my  friendliest  greetings  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Walker,  and 
assure  them  of  my  good- will  for  themselves  and  family.  Oh, 
how  it  melts  and  subdues  me  when  I  write  all  these  names, 
and  think  of  the  dear  neighborhood  with  which  they  are  as- 
sociated. May  power  from  on  high  ever  rest  on  many  of  its 
families,  and  may  the  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  be  poured  in 
rich  effusion  over  your  much-loved  land. 

My  wife  and  I  both  were  greatly  moved  and  interested  by 
your  kind  letter.  I  hope  you  will  soon  see  us  in  Glasgow. 
Let  me  know  of  your  movements  ;  and  may  the  Lord  guide 
and  protect  them. 

We  live  in  Charlotte  Street,  have  a  garden,  and  are  most 
eligibly  situated.  May  God  prosper  you,  and  give  you  His 
peace  to  rule  in  your  heart.     Yours  most  affectionately, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

■No.  LIX. 
My  very  dear  Miss  Collier — I  received  your  highly  ac- 
ceptable communication  ;  and  you  know  how  much  the  kind 
and  Christian  remembrance  of  an  old  and  valued  friend  acts 
as  a  sweetening  infusion  in  that  compound  of  many  ingredi- 


86  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

ents  which  make  up  the  life  and  history  of  a  city  minister. 
I  have  much  reason,  however,  for  thankfulness,  and  trust  that 
I  am  finding  my  way,  through  the  leadings  of  a  good  and  a  free 
Spirit,  to  the  habits  of  a  more  even  and  simple  rehance  upon 
Him  in  whom  I  desire  to  find  all  my  completeness  and  all 
my  rest.  How  precious  to  know,  that  it  is  by  keeping  in 
memory  the  truths  which  we  received  at  the  first — that  it  is 
by  holding  fast  the  beginning  of  our  confidence,  and  not  cast- 
ing it  away — that  it  is  by  cleaving  unto  Him  in  whom  we 
ought  always  to  abide,  with  an  utter  sense  of  our  emptiness 
and  of  His  fullness — that  it  is  this  attitude  of  quietness  which, 
after  all,  is  our  only  attitude  of  strength,  and  by  persevering 
in  which  we  are  made  more  than  conquerors.  My  dear  mad- 
am, yours  very  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers, 

No.  LX. 

Glasgow,  3d  June,  1816. 
My  dear  Miss  Collier — I  mean,  if  God  will,  to  go  from 
this  in  the  middle  of  July,  and  stay  away  six  weeks.  I  shall 
be  much  of  that  time  in  the  neighborhood  of  Kilmany,  and, 
of  course,  some  days  in  Dairsie.  All  this,  however,  is  only  ex- 
pressive of  my  intentions,  and  not  of  my  promises,  of  which  I 
am  most  fearful ;  and  as  my  object  is  to  rest,  I  trust  I  shall 
not  have  the  fatigue  of  urgency  to  undergo  on  the  subject  of 
preaching,  as  I  must  be  very  sparing  of  myself  during  my  ab- 
sence from  Glasgow.  I  still  feel  the  overdoing  of  too  much 
exertion  in  the  business  of  Glasgow.  The  preaching  is  heavy 
for  me  ;  and  the  teasing  invitations,  pressed  with  a  degree 
of  rudeness  that  is  very  provoking,  I  find  it  difficult  to  ward 

ofl'  from  me.     I  am  sorry  to  say  that  Dr. is  most  egre- 

giously  culpable  in  this  respect ;  and  I  have  learned  from  him 
of  how  little  avail  the  mere  feeling  of  kindness  is  toward  the 
happiness  of  others,  unless  a  consideration  and  a  respect  for 
convenience  and  liberty  go  along  with  it.  I  wish  I  could  re- 
port favorably,  either  of  myself  or  others,  as  to  the  most  sub- 
stantial of  our  interests.     1  hear  sometimes  of  good  done,  and 


MR.  WILBERFORCE.  87 


I  am  convinced  that,  to  a  certain  degree,  there  is  a  reahty  ic 
the  matter.  Of  one  thing  I  am  getting  every  day  surer, 
that  no  human  power,  either  of  argument  or  of  address,  can 
work  the  progress  of  a  single  inch  toward  the  conversion  of  a 
human  soul.  It  is  of  my  might  and  my  wisdom,  saith  the 
Lord  ;  and  till  we  feel  our  dependence  upon  this,  I  am  con- 
vinced that  He  will  humble  and  mortify  all  our  sufficiency. 
I  feel  my  need  of  your  prayers,  both  for  my  personal  and  min- 
isterial welfare.  This  is  Monday,  when  I  am  sadly  liable  to 
be  driven  out  of  the  mildness  and  endurance  of  the  Gospel, 
by  the  feebleness  of  yesterday's  fatigue,  and  the  annoyances 
with  which  a  selfish  and  inconsiderate  public  beset  me.  I 
have  this  day  had  to  ward  oft^  four  dinner  invitations,  and  to 
fight  a  stout  battle  about  two  of  them.  I  trust  that  this  mat- 
ter will  at  length  find  an  adjustment  in  the  people's  letting 
me  alone.     But  I  must  give  up  this  querulous  strain. 

Give  my  kindest  compliments  to  Dr.  M'Culloch,  Mrs. 
Coutts,  Miss  Coutts,  Mr.  Ewan,  and  the  two  Misses  M'Cul- 
loch. I  sigh  for  the  repose  and  pure  air  of  your  charming 
neighborhood.  I  ever  am,  my  dear  Miss  Collier,  yours  most 
affectionately,  Thomas  Chalmers. 


LETTERS  TO  WILLL\M  WILBERFORCE,  ESQ.,  M.P. 
No.  LXL 

Glasgow,  9th  February^  1818. 
My  dear  Sir — The  concluding  paragraph  of  the  Prince 
Regent's  speech*"  has  given  great  satisfaction  to  the  friends 
of  rehgion  in  this  quarter.  It,  at  the  same  time,  by  suspending 
measures  till  the  specific  proposal  of  government  be  known, 
has  given  a  temporary  check  to  their  operations  for  adding 
new  churches  to  the  Establishment  in  Glasgow,  My  own 
apprehension  is,  that  if  government  shall  offer  to  carry  this 

^  Recommending  to  the  attention  of  Parliament  the  deficiency  in 
the  number  of  places  of  worship  connected  with  the  Established  Church, 
as  compared  with  the  increased  and  increasing  population. 


88      CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

into  effect  by  a  pecuniary  grant  merely,  it  will  do  but  little 
for  us  here  in  proportion  to  the  needs  of  our  population,  and, 
at  the  same  time,  will  do  as  much  as  will  satisfy  and  set  at 
rest  the  lukewarm  friends  of  the  cause. 

What  I  think  would  be  most  desirable  in  any  legal  enact- 
ments on  this  subject,  would  be  to  afford  facilities  to  the  en- 
terprise of  individuals,  who,  on  their  own  risk,  might  com- 
bine to  build  churches  in  connection  with  the  Establishment, 
and  thus  extend  the  object  of  government,  and  that  without 
any  expense  to  government.  You  know  what  Mr.  Gladstone, 
of  Liverpool,  has  done  in  this  way,  having  added  two  church- 
es to  that  town  at  his  own  risk.  Now  it  is  my  conviction 
that,  a  proper  encouragement  being  held  out  to  individuals, 
much  may  be  done  in  the  same  way  in  the  larger  towns  of 
Scotland. 

For  instance,  if  government  were  so  far  to  countenance 
such  speculations  as  to  vest  the  individuals  who  came  for- 
ward with  funds  for  the  erection  of  churches  and  the  main- 
tenance of  their  clergy,  with  the  right  of  nomination  for  a 
hundred  years,  after  which  the  patronage  might  fall  either  to 
the  crown  or  to  the  magistrates  and  council,  I  have  no  doubt 
that  in  a  very  few  years  indeed  we  should  see  at  least  half 
a  dozen  of  additional  churches  in  this  place,  and  that  without 
any  expense  to  government  at  all.  A  great  collateral  ad- 
vantage that  I  could  anticipate  for  such  an  arrangement  is 
this — a  purer  exercise  of  patronage.  It  is  a  great  security 
for  our  getting  a  good  evangelical  clergyman  when  the  patron 
is  strongly  interested  in  the  popularity  of  his  choice  ;  and  we 
can  not  be  too  grateful  when  we  think  how  wisely  and  mer- 
cifully God  can  bring  about  the  extension  of  His  kingdom 
among  men  even  out  of  the  sordid  elements  of  human  inter- 
est and  human  passion. 

May  I  submit  to  you  another  observation  on  this  point  ?  A 
church  without  a  local  district  annexed  to  it  in  the  shape  of 
a  corresponding  parish,  is  not  the  best  arrangement  for  getting 
it  filled  with  hearers.     Give  the  preacher  a  superintendence 


MR.  WILBERFORCE.  89 


over  a  certain  range  of  population,  and  his  week-day  atten- 
tions among  them  will  at  length  bring  them  to  his  Sabbath 
ministrations.  The  habit  of  church-going  has  got  most  woe- 
fully into  desuetude,  and  nothing  should  be  overlooked  which 
can  help  to  restore  it.  I  think  that  I  speak  what  is  practi- 
cally and  experimentally  true  when  I  affirm  the  mighty  oper- 
ation which  lies  in  the  mere  attaching  of  a  certain  portion 
of  town,  over  which  the  minister  has  the  official  right  of  ex- 
patiating through  the  week,  to  the  church  where  he  preaches 
on  the  Sabbath. 

You  may  remember  my  former  communications  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  Edinburgh  Professorship.  I  wish  that  no  further 
application  should  be  made  to  government  on  this  subject.  I 
feel  as  formerly  on  the  suitableness  of  such  an  office  to  my 
taste  ;  but  I  know  of  nothing  which  more  effectuall}  neutral- 
izes a  man's  usefulness  in  this  age  of  party  violence  and  im- 
putations than  the  appearance  of  receiving  any  thing  from 
government.  Even  for  the  sake  of  the  interests  of  loyalty 
and  good  order,  I  would  rather  decline  any  benefit  from  the 
patronage  of  the  state,  knowing  well  that  the  only  way  in 
which  a  man's  testimony  can  have  weight  among  his  citizens 
on  the  side  of  loyalty,  is  that  they  be  thoroughly  convinced  of 
its  being  a  disinterested  testimony.  Permit  me  to  say  that 
this  conviction  of  mine  stands  most  intimately  associated  with 
all  that  I  have  observed  of  the  conduct  of  you  and  your  friends 
in  Parliament. 

From  a  letter  I  received  some  time  ago  from  Lady  Grey,  I 
was  glad  to  observe  that  you  approve  generally  of  my  views 
on  Pauperism.  I  have  another  article  on  the  same  subject 
in  the  next  number  of  the  "  Edinburgh  Review." 

I  can  not  conclude  without  expressing  the  very  warm  af- 
fection that  I  entertain  for  you.  It  is  my  earnest  prayer  that 
your  life  and  your  labors  may  long  be  preserved  to  us.  I  beg 
my  most  respectful  compliments  to  Mrs.  Wilberforce.  Believe 
me,  my  dear  sir,  yours  with  most  cordial  esteem, 

Thomas  Chal.mers. 


«0  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


No.  LXII. 

Glasgow,  28th  December,  1818. 

My  dear  Sir — I  have  no  one  topic  connected  with  busi- 
ness about  which  to  write  to  you  ;  and,  indeed,  I  always  grieve 
for  any  necessity  of  this  kind,  thinking,  as  I  do,  that  there 
ought  to  be  a  general  combination  on  the  part  of  all  your 
friends  to  let  you,  as  much  as  possible,  alone.  There  is  posi- 
tively nothing  which  they  ought  more  to  study  than  to  abridge 
the  numerous  exactions  which  are  perpetually  made  upon 
your  attention  and  your  time,  and  to  suffer  you  that  undis- 
turbed repose  which  it  would  be  desirable  that  you  could  be 
permitted  to  enjoy. 

The  chief  impulse  under  which  I  write  is  that  produced  by 
your  last  letter — on  my  review  of  the  various  letters  I  have 
received  during  the  currency  of  the  year  that  is  departing 
away  from  us,  and  which  breathes  so  kindly  and  so  affection- 
ately toward  me,  that  I  can  not  but  send  you  the  warmest 
acknowledgments  of  my  gratitude  and  regard. 

I  further  take  the  opportunity  of  stating,  in  reference  to  a 
certain  confidential  subject  on  which  you  did  me  the  honor 
of  addressing  me  some  months  ago,  that  I  have  introduced 
the  matter  into  several  companies,  and  in  general  found  that 
the  task  of  vindication  was  altogether  superfluous.  I  in  par- 
ticular recollect  having  started  the  topic  in  one  of  the  high- 
est of  our  circles  here,  when  our  then  member,  Mr.  Finlay, 
was  present ;  and  I  had  the  utmost  satisfaction  in  hearing 
the  cordial  testimony  he  bore  to  the  entire  consistency  and 
integrity  of  your  parliamentary  conduct.  Such  is  the  worth- 
lessness  of  mere  partisanship,  that  none  can  stand  out  with 
any  degree  of  conspicuousness  to  the  public  eye  without  be- 
coming the  subject  of  vile  and  calumnious  aspersions.  But 
it  is  a  satisfaction  to  know  that,  even  in  this  alienated  and  ac- 
cursed world,  there  is  often  so  willing  a  tribute  rendered  to  prin- 
ciple, even  in  quarters  where  the  natural  enmity  of  the  human 
heart  is  most  apt  to  be  provoked  with  the  exhibition  of  it. 


MR.  WILBERFORCE.  91 


I  beg  to  offer  my  affectionate  regards  to  Mrs.  Wilberforce. 
She  will  perhaps  be  interested  to  know  that  Mrs.  Parker  is  in 
my  immediate  neighborhood,  and  that  I  have  the  felicity  of 
occasional  intercourse  with  her.  Believe  me,  my  dear  sir, 
yours  with  the  most  cordial  esteem, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  LXIII. 

Glasgow,  25th  June,  1822. 

My  dear  Sir — I  promised  to  write  you  on  a  subject,  the 
interest  of  which  for  the  time  has  gone  by.  I  have  long 
looked  with  a  most  approving  eye  to  the  part  you  take  re- 
specting the  Catholics  of  Ireland  ;  and  I  simply  wanted  to  let 
you  know,  that  the  evangelical  party  in  our  Church  are  fast 
hastening  toward  the  same  enlightened  spirit  of  Christian  and 
liberal  policy  in  regard  to  them.  There  are  still  a  few  sturdy 
old  clergymen  among  us  who  have  not  yet  got  the  better,  and 
never  will,  of  the  sore  recollections  of  their  covenanting  fore- 
fathers. But  with  the  exception  of  these,  and  of  some  others 
who  take  the  opposite  side  of  the  question  from  political  mo- 
tives, I  do  think  that  the  Church  of  Scotland  would  like  the 
removal  of  the  existing  disabilities.  What  a  piece  of  kingly 
munificence  would  it  have  been  had  his  majesty  been  enabled 
to  carry  the  deed  of  emancipation  to  Ireland  along  with  him. 

I  have  not  forgotten  the  very  great  exertions  you  made 
in  behalf  of  three  Canada  emigrants  about  two  years  ago  ; 
and  I  really  think  that  it  ought  to  be  a  principle  with  all 
your  friends  to  form  themselves  into  a  cordon  of  defense,  for 
the  purpose  of  protecting  you  from  all  manner  of  intrusion. 
I  hope  that  you  received  my  last,  written  about  a  fortnight 
ago.  You  honored  me  by -asking  my  sentiments  on  the  sub- 
ject of  public  affairs,  and  I  ventured  a  few  affirmations  on  a 
matter  that  I  am  far  from  being  qualified  to  pronounce  on. 
I  see  that  the  public  funds  are  to  be  held  inviolable,  and  there 
is  assuredly  something  noble  in  the  principle  of  it.  I  can  not, 
however,  get  the  better  of  a  principle  that  I  have  long  held 


92      CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

on  the  subject  of  taxation,  and  that  is,  that  all  taxes  fall  ul- 
timately on  land,  the  capitalist  finding  an  indemnification  for 
his  taxes  always  in  an  increase  of  profit,  and  the  laborer  in 
an  increase  of  wages.  I  should  like  to  see  the  whole  revenue 
of  the  government  raised  by  a  land-tax,  equally  including 
stockholders  as  the  mortgagees  or  co-proprietors  of  the  soil. 
The  burden  would  thus  api^ear  to  fall  exclusively  upon  one 
class.  But,  in  truth,  they  pay  all  at  present  directly  or  indi- 
rectly ;  and  were  they  made  to  pay  all  by  a  direct  levy,  they 
would  find  almost  instant  indemnification  for  a  measure  that 
w^ould  look  very  formidable  at  the  outset  by  a  fall  of  price  in 
all  the  comforts  of  human  life. 

We  had  a  visit  from  Mr.  Gray,  of  Sunderland,  lately,  one  of 
the  good  men  of  the  Church  of  England.  It  is  truly  refresh- 
ing to  have  a  visit  from  such  ;  it  always  puts  me  in  mind  of 
a  saying  of  Brainerd's,  that  he  has  heard  hundreds  speak 
about  religion,  but  not  above  one  or  two  speak  religion.  We 
Scotch  speak  about  it — look  at  the  matter  intellectually — 
come  forth  with  our  didactic  and  metaphysical  speculations 
about  the  thing  ;  but  the  evangelical  English,  as  far  as  I  can 
observe,  possess  the  thing  ;  and,  possessing  it,  they  have  by  far 
the  most  effective  ingredient  of  good  preaching,  which  is  the 
personal  piety  of  the  preacher  himself. 

It  is  my  prayer  that  you  may  long  be  preserved  among  us. 
May  you  taste  the  comforts  of  retirement,  and  may  a  fore- 
taste of  Heaven  mingle  with  them.  It  is  a  sad  world,  surely, 
when  one  can  not  bustle  his  way  through  it,  even  in  pursuit 
of  what  is  good,  without  the  danger  of  being  bustled  out  of 
all  his  spirituality.  This  I  feel  every  day.  But  Christ  did 
not  pray  that  His  disciples  should  be  taken  out  of  the  world, 
but  that  they  should  be  kept  from  the  evil  of  it.  With  most 
affectionate  regards  to  Mrs.  Wilberforce,  believe  me,  my  dear 
sir,  yours  very  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 


MR.  WILBERFORCE. 


No.  LXIV. 

Glasgow,  8th  July,  1823. 

My  dear  Sir — I  feel  obliged  by  your  kind  inquiries  respect- 
ing myself.  I  at  one  time  thought  of  writing  you  an  explan- 
atory letter  on  the  subject  of  my  departure  from  Glasgow  ; 
but  I  was  assailed  with  such  a  torrent  of  unexpected  abuse 
because  of  it  on  the  part  of  my  best  friends,  that  I  resolved 
to  wait  their  attentions  ere  I  should  write  one  word  upon  the 
subject.  I  believe  it  is  now  pretty  obvious  to  them  all,  that 
a  University  where  young  men  are  reared  for  the  public  offi- 
ces of  the  Church,  is  a  higher  station  in  the  field  of  Christian 
usefulness  than  any  one  of  these  offices.  I  was  not  unmind- 
ful of  this  consideration  when  I  made  my  choice^  and  it  was 
a  choice  that  I  embraced  more  readily,  as  I  had  long  found 
that  the  fatigues  of  action  were  encroaching  too  far  on  the 
tastes  and  habits  of  a  studious  life,  and  more  particularly  as 
the  pressure  of  my  fatigue  was  greatly  aggravated  by  the  va- 
rious, and,  to  all  appearance,  interminable  controversies  that 
had  been  raised  against  me. 

Meanwhile  I  am  much  engrossed  with  the  concluding  du- 
ties of  my  present  office,  and  preparation  for  the  duties  of  my 
new  one  ;  and  this  engrossment  must  last  till  the  summer  of 
1824.  I  expect,  ere  I  leave  Glasgow,  to  have  perfected  my 
parochial  arrangements,  and  to  leave  them  on  such  a  footing 
as  to  make  it  obvious  to  all  that  it  is  not  I  who  have  resolved 
the  problem  of  pauperism  for  St.  John's,  but  that  the  human 
nature  of  the  people  has  done  it  for  me,  and  will  do  it  for  any 
other  that  simply  lets  the  arrangement  alone.  The  difficulty 
of  the  problem  does  not  lie  with  the  poor — it  lies  with  the 
rulers  and  managers  of  the  poor.  The  barrier  is  not  in  the 
necessities  of  the  lower  orders — it  is  in  the  obstinate  preju- 
dices of  the  higher  orders  ;  and  I  lay  my  account  with  a  far 
more  formidable  obstacle  to  the  abolition  of  this  great  moral 
evil  in  the  Parliament  of  England  than  in  the  people  of  En- 
gland. 


94      CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

May  I  be  permitted  to  say,  that  I  have  long  regretted  the 
very  inconsiderate  encroachments  which  even  your  friends 
make  upon  your  time  and  ease.  I  should  rejoice  in  a  calm 
and  tranquil  evening  of  life  for  you  ;  and  my  prayer  is,  that 
you  may  have  many  happy  days  on  earth,  brightened  with 
the  hopes  and  the  foretaste  of  Heaven,  in  the  bosom  of  your 
family,  I  feel  the  utmost  gratitude  for  all  your  attentions  to 
myself,  and  shall  ever  reflect  with  a  pleasure,  not  perhaps 
unmixed  with  some  pride,  on  the  intercourse  that  I  have  had 
with  yourself  and  the  other  distinguished  philanthropists  of 
England. 

We  expect  Mr.  Clarkson  in  Glasgow  next  month.  There 
has  been  a  committee  formed  for  promoting  the  abolition  of 
slavery.  With  most  respectful  compliments  to  Mrs.  and  Miss 
Wilberforce,  I  am,  my  dear  sir,  yours  with  great  regard, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  LXV. 

St.  Andrews,  28th  October,  1825. 

My  dear  Sir — Mr.  ColUns  showed  me  a  letter  from  you, 
wherein  you  made  a  reference  to  me  on  the  subject  of  the 
London  University.  I  was  then  in  Glasgow,  and  in  the 
midst  of  many  engrossments.  I  now  avail  myself  of  a  mo- 
ment's leisure  for  a  few  slight  remarks  on  the  way  in  which 
a  Christian  education  may  be  made  to  keep  pace  with  the 
general  education  which  such  an  institution  is  so  fitted  to 
advance.  I  have  no  leisure  for  any  publication  on  the  topic, 
however  short. 

There  are  many  difficulties  attendant  on  the  introduction 
of  Theology  among  the  other  professorships,  and  most  of  which 
have  been  already  adverted  to  in  the  deliberations  M^hich  have 
taken  place  on  the  subject.  And  I  am  not  sure  that  you  got 
rid  of  these  difficulties  by  generalizing  the  course  into  a  mere 
series  of  lectures  on  Natural  Theology  and  the  Evidences  of 
Christianity.  For  my  own  part,  I  have  now  long  thought 
that  the  most  powerful  of  all  those  evidences  is  founded  on 


MR.  WILBERFORCE.  95 


the  adaptation  of  the  Gospel  to  the  moral  wants  and  condi- 
tion of  our  nature — a  subject  which  might  be  treated  in  a  way 
that  is  quite  philosophical,  and  that  would  harmonize  with  the 
tone  and  habits  of  speculation  which  may  have  been  acquired 
by  the  students  at  the  other  classes  ;  but  still  a  subject  M'hich 
can  not  be  fully  expounded  without  a  reference  to  the  peculi- 
arities of  the  evangelical  system.  And  if  to  keep  clear  of 
these  peculiarities  you  restricted  the  professor  to  certain  text- 
books, as  those  of  Paley  and  Butler,  and  others  that  were 
specified,  this  were  laying  a  fetter  upon  the  business  of  the 
professorship,  which  no  man  of  genius  or  of  vigorous  and  ex- 
cursive powers  could  with  any  comfort  submit  to. 

How  would  it  do,  instead  of  making  a  regular  professorship 
for  this  subject,  to  make  a  lectureship  of  it,  consisting  of  a 
course  of  three  months,  and  in  which,  if  the  teacher  gave  sat- 
isfaction, he  could  be  invited  indefinitely  to  repeat  his  course 
in  future  years — and  whom  you  get  quit  of,  should  he  go  astray 
or  give  offense,  by  simply  ceasing  to  invite  him  any  more  ?  By 
such  an  appendage  to  the  University,  you  might  perhaps  se- 
cure a  theological  infusion  without  the  hazards  to  which  a 
regular  professorship  of  Theology  might  expose  you.  You 
might,  at  all  events,  by  such  a  device,  feel  your  way  to  a  right 
and  permanent  arrangement  of  this  difficult  question. 

On  the  whole,  I  should  think  it  best  of  all  that  a  separate 
institution  were  formed,  neither  connected  with  the  London 
University,  nor  even  recognizing  it,  but  whose  real  design  was 
to  accommodate  the  defense  and  illustration  of  religion  to  that 
higher  intellectual  state  of  the  public  which  must  be  the  re- 
sult of  such  an  institution.  You  are  aware  that  some  of  our 
ablest  authorship  has  proceeded  from  endowments  of  this  sort, 
as  the  Boyle  Lectureship,  and  many  others.  But  I  would  not 
give  it  a  preaching,  but  rather  a  professorial  aspect.  The 
whole  expense  of  it  might  be  limited  to  the  erection  of  a  fab- 
ric, having  at  least  one  ample  hall,  where  a  general  course 
on  Natural  Theology  and  the  Evidences  could  be  delivered 
unce  a  year,  by  a  lecturer  who  might  be  changed  or  con- 


96      CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

tinued  at  the  pleasure  of  the  directors.  He  should  be  remu- 
nerated chiefly,  if  not  solely,  by  the  fees  of  attendance,  which 
ought  not  to  be  higher  than  those  in  the  University.  In  this 
way  you  might  neutralize  the  whole  apprehended  mischief, 
and  even  convert  the  higher  scholarship  of  the  metropolis 
into  a  positive  good  ;  for,  be  assured,  that  in  like  manner  as 
a  reading  Catholic  population,  though  taught  in  schools  whence 
the  Bible  has  been  excluded,  is  a  better  subject  for  a  Chris- 
tianizing process  than  a  non-reading  population,  so  a  highly 
educated  public,  even  though  formed  in  academies  whence 
Christianity  is  kept  out,  is  still  a  more  hopeful  subject  for  the 
formation  of  Christian  philanthropists  than  a  rudely  ignorant 
and  unlettered  pubhc.  In  every  possible  stage  of  mental  cul- 
tivation, Christianity  may  be  exposed  to  an  incidental  bane  ; 
but  she  possesses  an  inherent  antidote  wherewith  to  counter- 
act and  to  prevail  over  it,  so  that,  in  the  long  run,  I  antici- 
pate the  greatest  good  from  all  those  leanings  of  the  public 
and  popular  mind  toward  a  higher  scholarship.  Only  let 
them  be  followed  up  by  Christians  with  such  expedients  as 
might  suit  the  spirit  and  philosophy  of  the  times,  and  more 
especially  in  London. 

I  shall  be  most  happy  of  a  further  correspondence  with  you 
upon  this  subject.  I  offer  my  respectful  compliments  to  Mrs. 
Wilberforce,  and  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  my  dear  sir,  your.s 
with  greatest  esteem,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  LXVI. 

St.  Andrews,  22d  January,  1828. 

My  dear  Sir — I  have  been  much  gratified  by  the  receipt 
and  perusal  of  your  letter,  and  more  especially  by  your  con- 
gratulations upon  the  subject  of  my  recent  appointment.  I 
do  not  commence  the  duties  of  my  new  charge  till  Novem- 
ber next ;  and,  along  with  the  labors  of  my  professorship  here, 
I  fill  up  the  intermediate  time  with  the  still  higher  labors  of 
a  very  arduous  preparation. 

I  am  very  glad  to  observe  that  this  new  arrangement  has 


MR.  WILBERFORCE.  97 


at  length  reconciled  you  to  my  movement  from  Glasgow  • 
though,  independently  of  any  such  ulterior  view,  1  felt  the 
obligation,  in  point  of  Christian  usefulness,  to  accept  of  my 
present  office,  and  should  have  continued  so  to  feel,  though  I 
had  remained  here  to  the  end  of  my  days.  I  am  sensible  that 
in  this  feeling  there  are  some  of  my  best  friends  who  do  not 
sympathize  with  me,  overlooking,  I  think,  two  considerations 
which  had  decisive  effect  with  myself  The  first  is,  that  a 
University  stands  to  a  single  church  in  the  relation  that  a 
fountain-head,  whence  many  streams  issue,  does  to  one  only 
of  these  streams.  The  second  is,  that  moral  philosophy  stands 
to  Christianity  in  the  relation  that  law  does  to  Gospel — that 
the  preaching  of  John  the  Baptist  did  to  the  preaching  of  the 
Savior. 

In  reply  to  your  kind  inquiries  regarding  my  children,  I 
have  to  inform  you  that  I  am  the  father  of  six  daughters, 
the  eldest  fourteen  years,  and  the  youngest  one  month,  and  of 
nearly  equi-distant  ages.  I  have  lost  none  of  my  children, 
and  have  much  reason  to  be  thankful  that  Mrs.  Chalmers 
(who  begs  her  most  respectful  compliments  to  you),  though 
delicate  on  the  whole,  is  remarkably  well  at  present. 

It  is  the  cordial  wish  of  myself,  and,  I  am  sure,  the  wish 
and  the  prayer  of  all  your  Christian  friends,  that  you  may  be 
spared  to  spend  among  us  a  long  old  age  of  piety  and  peace. 
May  you  still  have  many  days  of  rest  and  of  rejoicing  on  the 
borders  of  heaven  ;  and  may  that  Book,  which  spoke  power- 
fully to  myself,  and  has  spoken  powerfully  to  thousands,  repre- 
sent you  to  future  generations,  and  be  the  instrument  of  con- 
verting many  who  are  yet  unborn. 

With  my  respectful  regards  to  Mrs.  and  Miss  "VVilberforce, 
I  have  the  honor  to  be,  my'  dear  sir,  yours  with  greatest  es- 
teem, Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  LXYII. 

St.  Andrews,  llth  June,  1828. 
My  dear  Sir — I  should  have  replied  sooner  to  your  most 
E 


98      CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 
^ 

welcome  communication  ;  but  I  have  been  from  home,  and  I 
did  not  receive  it  till  yesterday,  when  it  was  too  late  to  reply 
to  it  by  the  post. 

Mrs.  Chalmers  and  I  are  both  delighted  with  the  prospect 
of  having  you  for  a  guest.  We  remain  here  till  late  in  Oc- 
tober, it  being  far  the  best  place  for  the  prosecution  of  those 
studies  which  are  so  indispensable  to  the  arduous  office  upon 
which  I  am  so  soon  to  enter. 

"We  shall  have  two  rooms  at  your  service,  and  promise  you 
all  the  gratification  which  a  most  thorough  retirement  and 
the  most  cordial  welcome  can  afford.  We  both  are  quite 
alive  to  the  honor  and  the  enjoyment  of  such  a  visit. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  write  at  present  on  the  subject  of  a 
Scottish  tour,  seeing  that  the  movement  should  be  a  circular 
one,  and  that  your  coming  to  St.  Andrews,  by  Edinburgh,  is 
just  taking  our  side  of  the  circle  first.  Your  return  should 
be  by  the  north  of  Scotland  and  the  west  coast  ;  but  the  de- 
tails of  the  ulterior  journey  had  far  better  be  discussed  in 
conversation. 

We  trust  that  Mrs.  Wilberforce  and  your  daughter  will  ac- 
company you.  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  my  dear  sir,  yours 
with  greatest  esteem  and  regard,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  LXVIII. 

St.  Andrews,  16th  July,  1828. 

My  dear  Sir — Mrs.  Chalmers  and  I  have  been  made  quite 
happy  by  your  last.  It  will  give  us  great  pleasure  to  see  your 
son.  We  can  accommodate  him  as  well  as  the  ladies,  who,  I 
think,  Avill  enjoy  Scotland  ;  and  I  fondly  trust  that  you  will 
be  much  the  better  of  the  journey.  The  house  we  at  present 
occupy  is  very  commodious,  and  has  some  pretensions  to  the 
name  of  classical — it  not  only  having  in  it  the  study  of  George 
Buchanan,  but  having  lodged  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson  when  he 
visited  St.  Andrews. 

Our  autumns  are  generally  drier  than  our  summers,  but 
there  is  no  such  great  or  regular  difference  as  would  lead  me 


MR.  WILBERFORCE.  99 

to  fix  on  any  particular  month  in  the  way  of  preference.  On 
the  whole,  I  would  not  think  it  advisable  to  travel  in  Scot- 
land after  the  end  of  September. 

"We  have  the  greater  and  the  smaller  Highland  tour — the 
former  taking  you  as  far  north  as  Inverness,  and  farther  if 
you  choose  ;  the  latter  a  smaller  sweep  by  Perth,  Dunkeld, 
Blair,  Killin,  Argyleshire,  The  former  would  also  compre- 
hend Argyleshire.  You  commence  either  from  St.  Andrews, 
and  terminate  what  is  purely  Highland  in  the  journey  at 
Glasgow,  whence  you  could  make  smaller  excursions  to  Stir- 
ling and  the  Trosachs. 

Abstracting  from  all  detentions  on  the  score  of  society,  you 
could  make  the  larger  sweep  from  St.  Andrews  to  Glasgow 
by  moderate  journeys  in  a  fortnight,  and  the  smaller  sweep 
in  nine  or  ten  days.  I  make  allowance  for  the  remarkable 
scenes  on  the  journey. 

In  fixing  your  itinerancy,  my  only  difficulty  relates  to  the 
larger  tour,  because  there  are  three  great  northern  roads,  and 
I  know  not  which  of  these  should  be  surrendered.  I  am  anx- 
ious to  secure  the  middle  road,  as  being  the  more  character- 
istic across  the  Grampians.  But  I  would  be  unwilling  to  sac- 
rifice the  eastern,  which  takes  you  by  Aberdeen,  and  carries 
you  to  some  remarkable  objects  on  the  coast.  I  would  very 
much  defer  to  Mr.  Charles  Grant's  opinion,  who,  by-the-way, 
is  extensively  acquainted  in  Inverness-shire.  My  letters  of 
introduction  will  be  a  few  to  the  aristocracy,  but  chiefly  to  the 
more  meritorious  clergy  along  the  line  of  your  journey,  who 
will  be  delighted  to  show  you  every  attention,  and  whom  you 
will  find  to  be  at  once  inteUigent  and  congenial. 

May  I  request  to  know  your  movements  when  you  have 
fixed  them.  With  most  respectful  compliments  to  Mrs.  and 
Miss  Wilberforce,  in  which  Mrs.  Chalmers  joins,  I  have  the 
honor  to  be,  my  dear  sir,  yours  with  greatest  esteem, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 


100     CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


No.  LXIX 

St.  Ai^'DREws,  31st  July,  1828. 
My  dear  Sir — Your  final  determination  for  this  season,  on 
the  subject  of  a  Scottish  tour,  could  not  fail  to  disappoint  us, 
though  it  is  impossible  not  to  acquiesce  in  the  reasons  of  it. 
The  expectation  of  seeing  you  had  begun  to  awaken  a  great 
competition  for  the  pleasure  of  your  society  ;  and,  among  oth- 
ers, Lord  Leven,  who,  with  his  friend,  Captain  Thornton,  hon- 
ored me  lately  wdth  a  short  visit,  was  confidently  looking  for- 
ward to  a  visit  from  you.  We  shall  be  exceeding  glad  of 
meeting  with  you  any  where,  though  the  seclusion  of  St.  An- 
drews would  certainly  have  afforded  greater  advantages  for 
intercourse  than  I  can  hope  to  have  in  Edinburgh.  But 
there,  too,  we  should  feel  it  a  gratification  and  an  honor  to 
have  you  under  our  roof 

I  have  just  returned  from  Glasgow%  where  I  have  been  vis- 
iting the  afflicted  family  of  my  friend,  Mr.  Parker,  who  died 
suddenly  within  these  twelve  days. 

I  observe  the  struggle  and  opposition  that  you  have  had  to 
encounter  in  the  erection  of  your  chapel.  Such  is  the  iden- 
tity of  the  anti-evangelical  spirit  all  over  the  w^orld,  that  1 
recognize  the  perfect  identity  of  your  experience  with  all  that 
we  have  had  to  contend  against  among  ourselves.  Our  Gen- 
eral Assembly,  however,  is  now  far  better  disposed  to  these 
erections,  and  the  chapel  cause  has  been  making  great  prog- 
ress of  late  in  Scotland. 

Mrs.  Chalmers  joins  in  kindest  regards  to  yourself,  and  with 
our  united  respects  to  Mrs.  and  Miss  Wilberforce,  I  have  the 
honor  to  be,  my  dear  sir,  yours  with  greatest  esteem, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  LXX. 

Edinburgh,  24th  November,  1832. 
My  dear  Sir — I  received  your  letter  of  the  3d  of  October, 
by  the  hands  of  Mrs.  Wellman,  only  two  or  three  days  ago ; 


MRS.  GLASGOW.  loi 


and  it  was  read,  both  by  myself  and  Mrs.  Chalmers,  with 
great  interest  and  emotion.  I  receive  it  as  the  most  unequiv- 
ocal expression  of  your  friendship  which  could  possibly  be 
given,  that  you  have  thus  laid  open  to  me  the  personal  and 
family  trials  wherewith  a  mysterious  but  merciful  Providence 
hath  exercised  you  ;  and  we  particularly  rejoice  in  your  own 
distinct  and  declared  experience,  that  though  clouds  and  dark- 
ness are  round  about  Him,  and  there  is  much  of  the  inscrut- 
able in  His  dealings  with  the  children  of  men,  yet  is  there 
wisdom  in  all  His  ways  and  kindness  in  all  His  visitations. 

We  felt  deeply  the  death  of  your  daughter,  whom  we  saw 
last  in  June,  1830.  May  we  all  grow  in  a  well-founded  hope 
of  that  inheritance  above,  where  sorrow  and  separation  are 
unknown. 

With  our  united  and  respectful  compliments  to  Mrs.  Wil- 
berforce,  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  my  dear  sir,  yours  with 
greatest  esteem  and  regard,  Thomas  Chalmers. 


LETTERS  TO  MRS.  GLASGOW  OF  MOUNTGREENAN. 
No.  LXXI. 

Glasgow,  2Ath  April,  1819. 

Dear  Madam — Your  interesting  and  kind  letter  reached 
me  at  least  three  weeks  after  it  was  written,  and  when  I  was 
in  the  midst  of  all  that  heat  and  hurry  which  are  unfortu- 
nately too  much  associated  with  the  business  of  the  sacrament 
in  our  large  towns.  I  have  since  had  a  small  excursion  into 
the  country,  and  this  is  the  first  day  of  my  return  home.  I 
think  it  necessary  to  state  all  this,  for  it  does  require  expla- 
nation that  a  letter  so  replete  with  valuable  and  friendly  ob- 
servations should  have  remained  for  such  a  length  of  time  un- 
answered. 

The  notice  that  has  been  excited  by  ray  publications  is  cer- 
tainly beyond  all  that  I  could  have  ventured  to  anticipate  ; 
and  my  attention  has  been  a  good  deal  exercised  on  the  ques- 
tion— in  how  far  this  was  due  to  the  pure  and  single  ingre- 


102  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

dient  of  Christianity,  or  to  certain  adventitious  ingredients 
which  entered  into  my  exposition  of  it  ?  and  I  trust  that  I 
speak  the  genuine  desire  of  my  heart  when  I  affirm  the  feel- 
ing of  a  much  truer  satisfaction  in  being  made  to  understand 
that  any  hearer  has  become  more  reconciled  than  before  to 
the  preaching  of  those  who  hold  fast  the  simple  and  unac- 
companied Gospel,  or  that  any  reader  has  acquired  either  a 
juster  perception  or  a  more  approving  taste  for  the  doctrine 
of  the  Bible. 

In  these  circumstances  I  could  not  fail  perusing  your  letter 
with  much  interest  and  gratification  ;  and  happy  shall  I  be 
that,  by  entering  upon  the  fellowship  of  confidence  and  affec- 
tion with  Christ,  you  experience  in  your  person  the  fulfillment 
of  all  His  promises,  receiving  from  Him  power  to  become  one 
of  the  children  of"  God,  created  anew  unto  good  works,  and 
rendered  a  new  creature  in  Him  who  died  for  you. 

Be  assured,  dear  madam,  that  you  can  not  think  too  ex- 
travagantly either  of  your  own  native  guilt  or  native  help- 
lessness, and  that  on  such  a  feeling  as  this  you  need  lay  no 
limitation  whatever.  And,  on  the  other  hand,  you  can  not 
think  too  confidently  either  of  Christ's  power,  or  of  Christ's 
willingness  to  expiate  the  one  and  to  perfect  His  own  strength 
in  the  other.  It  is  my  earnest  prayer  that  neither  of  us  be 
permitted  to  stop  short  with  approving  of  this  process  intel- 
lectually, but  that  we  shall  be  led  by  the  good  Spirit  of  God 
to  enter  upon  the  process  actually  and  experimentally.  I 
have  just  room  to  add,  that  I  do  not  know  a  more  stimulating 
kind  of  reading  than  the  lives  of  religious  persons — Phihp 
Henry,  Matthew  Henry,  Doddridge,  Halyburton,  Newton,  are 
among  the  most  useful  subjects  of  religious  biography  that  at 
present  occur  to  me  ;  but  let  all  our  reading  be  subordinate 
to  the  Bible. 

After  the  many  kind  encouragements  which  you  have  had 
the  goodness  to  afford  me,  I  assure  you  of  my  hearty  inclina- 
tion to  visit  Mountgreenan,  and  will  certainly  never  be  in 
your  neighborhood,  with  health  and  any  degree  of  leisure  at 


MRS.  GLASGOW.  io3 


all,  without  ofiering  my  respects  to  you.  I  am  greatly  en- 
grossed at  present,  however,  and  from  the  circumstance  of  my 
relations  being  all  situated  on  the  east  side  of  the  island,  I 
have  it  rarely  in  my  power  to  be  in  your  neighborhood.  Be- 
lieve me  to  be,  madam,  yours  with  great  regard  and  esteem, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  LXXII. 

Anstruther,  13th  August,  1819. 

My  dear  Madam — I  am  here  upon  sea-bathing.  You  were 
from  home  when  I  was  last  in  your  neighborhood,  and  I  fear 
that  I  shall  not  be  able  to  make  out  my  meditated  visit  to 
Mountgreenan  for  some  time.  Your  last  letter  interested  me 
greatly,  and  the  question  about  sin,  I  trust,  proceeded  from  a 
mind  more  enlightened,  both  as  to  its  existence  and  its  enor- 
mity, than  before,  and  therefore  having  more  of  its  magnitude 
in  view  as  residing  in  her  own  character,  while  in  respect  of 
its  absolute  magnitude  it  is  actually  becoming  less. 

The  topic  to  which  you  adverted  has  puzzled  and  mortified 
many  an  aspiring  disciple  of  Christ.  He  becomes  the  sanc- 
tification  as  well  as  the  redemption  of  those  who  believe  in 
Him,  and  why,  then,  is  He  not  now  my  complete  sanctifica- 
tion  ?  Just  because  we  do  not  yet  completely  believe  in  Him. 
In  proportion  to  the  strength  and  consistency  of  our  faith  is  our 
experience  of  His  faithfulness.  He  gives  power  to  become 
the  children  of  God  to  as  many  as  receive  Him.  (John,  i., 
12.)  But  not  to  keep  Him  just  brings  us  back  to  the  con- 
dition in  which  we  were  when  we  had  not  received  Him  ; 
and  so  is  it  worthy  of  remark,  that  unless  we  keep  in  memory 
the  truth  which  we  have  learned,  we  have  believed  in  vain, 
and  are  not  saved.  (1  Cor.,  xv.,  2.)  The  great  excellence 
of  the  Gospel  is,  that  the  same  principle  which  stands  connect- 
ed with  our  acceptance  in  the  sight  of  God  (Acts,  xiii..  39), 
will  also,  if  admitted  and  kejjt  in  the  heart,  maintain  within 
it  the  principle  of  all  holy  and  affectionate  obedience,  ((ial., 
v.,  6  ;    1  John,  v.,  4.)     But  faith  is  a  progressive  principle. 


104  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

In  its  infancy  it  often  fluctuates  into  feebleness,  and  appears 
to  fade  away  altogether.  It  says  nothing  against,  but  for  the 
supremacy  of  its  influence,  that  when  away  from  the  mind 
of  man,  he  relapses  into  the  sin  and  the  vanities  of  nature, 
and  that  it  is  only  when  present  in  the  mind  that  this  new 
and  implanted  principle  insures  the  ascendency  of  the  Spirit, 
and  subordinates  the  flesh  to  its  pure  and  prevailing  influ- 
ence. It  is  of  importance  to  knov/,  that  the  privilege  of  a 
Christian  in  the  world  consists  not  in  an  exemption  from  the 
motions  of  the  flesh,  but  in  a  power  of  control  over  them. 
There  is  a  conflict  between  nature  and  grace,  even  unto  the 
end.  (Gal.,  v.,  17.)  Paul  describes  this  conflict  in  his  own 
person.  (Rom.,  vii.,  9-25.)  Sin  was  present,  but  it  had  not 
the  dominion,  when  he  recurred  by  faith  to  Christ  as  his  help- 
er. To  feel  the  instigations  of  sin  is  one  thing,  to  walk  after 
these  instigations  is  another.  Commit  yourself  to  Jesus  as 
the  Lord  your  sanctifier,  and  you  will  experience  the  same 
reason  of  gratitude  that  Paul  did  when  he  uttered  the  ex- 
clamation, Rom.,  vii.,  24,  25  ;  and  in  Rom.,  viii.,  4,  you  find 
that,  through  Christ  strengthening  him,  he,  and  every  true 
believer  after  him,  walks  after  the  Spirit. 

I  have  often  thought  that  ''  ivJiosocver  is  born  of  God  com- 
mitteth  not  sin"  would  be  more  intelligible,  and  apparently 
more  consistent  with  experience,  were  the  first  word  render- 
ed, which  I  think  it  might  be,  "  whatsoever,"  viz.,  the  new 
principle  of  regeneration — the  love  which  faith  worketh — the 
radical  element  of  the  new  man,  out  of  which  no  sin  can  pos- 
sibly emerge,  and  which,  in  proportion  to  its  growth  in  the 
Christian,  will  more  and  more  prevail  over  the  old  man,  and 
expel  sin  from  the  whole  man,  compound  as  he  is  in  his  pres- 
ent state  of  the  two  put  together. 

Out  of  all  this  observation  I  would  say,  in  the  first  place, 
that  the  best  practical  attitude  for  obedience  from  one  hour 
to  another,  is  to  live  in  faith  on  the  Son  of  God  from  one  hour 
to  another — is  to  feed  the  flame  of  gratitude  all  the  day  long, 
by  trusting  all  the  day  long — is  to  commit  yourself  in  good 


MRS.  GLASGOW.  105 


earnest  to  Him  under  this  one  and  that  other  temptation, 
and  then  see  whether  He  will  not  keep  that  which  is  so  com- 
mitted— see  whether,  when  the  Lord  is  besought  earnestly. 
He  does  not  indeed  and  in  truth  return  the  answer,  "  I  will 
make  my  grace  sufficient  for  you  ;  I  will  perfect  my  strength 
in  weakness." 

Let  me  say,  in  the  second  place,  that  though  the  existence 
of  sin  be  compatible  with  a  state  of  safety  (1  John,  i,,  8),  I 
know  not  a  worse  symptom  than  when  a  professing  disciple 
is  willing,  on  this  account,  to  lay  down  the  armor  of  hostility 
against  it.  It  is  a  war  in  which  no  quarter  must  be  given 
— a  war  of  extermination — a  war  with  self,  and  with  tem- 
per, and  with  willfulness — a  war  which  is  never  slackened 
by  the  offers  of  pardon  or  the  hopes  of  impunity.  It  is  re- 
markable, that  after  John  has  brought  forv^^ard  the  things 
stated  in  chapter  i.  of  his  first  Epistle,  and  verses  7  and  9,  he 
should  say,  in  chapter  ii.,  verse  1,  he  wrote  these  things  not 
that  they  might  securely  sin,  but  that  they  might  sin  not, 
and  follows  up  this  with  another  ample  declaration  of  the 
grace  and  forgiveness  by  which  the  Gospel  is  characterized. 

Did  I  think  that  natural  talents  were  enough  for  an  intel- 
ligent perusal  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  I  would  recom- 
mend this  epistle  to  none  more  readily  than  to  yourself  But 
in  the  actual  truth  of  the  case,  let  me  recommend  the  perusal 
of  this  admirable  compendium  of  Christianity  with  earnest 
prayer — with  sustained  and  persevering  attention — with  a 
constant  feeling  of  dependence  on  that  Spirit,  who,  by  the 
Word  as  His  instrument,  can  alone  effectually  teach  you,  by 
taking  of  the  things  of  Christ  and  showing  them  unto  you. 

I  have  read  with  impression  lately  AUeine's  "  Alarm  to  the 
Unconverted,"  and  I  am  now  reading  Doddridge's  "  Rise  and 
Progress  of  Religion."  The  former  is  a  very  close  and  vigor- 
ous performance.  Its  occasional  coarsenesses  of  imagery  and 
expression  I  feel  persuaded  that  you  will  now  overlook  ;  nor 
do  I  know  a  more  pleasing  collateral  transformation  tliat 
takes  place  on  an  inquirer  than  when,  in  spite  of  accompani- 

E 


106  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

meats  which  at  one  time  would  have  utterly  repelled  him, 
his  taste  becomes  reconciled  to  the  phraseology  of  evangel- 
ical writers  from  the  weight  and  preeiousness  of  the  matter 
which  it  conveys.  Believe  me,  my  dear  madam,  yours  with 
great  esteem  and  regard,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  LXXIII. 

Glasgow,  30th  ^priL  1821. 

My  dear  Madam — I  send  you  my  book  on  National  Re- 
sources. I  should  like  your  frank  and  explicit  avowal  re- 
specting the  merits  of  my  theory,  which  to  me  is  still  as  con- 
vincing as  when  I  first  conceived  it. 

I  look  back  with  no  common  emotions  of  interest  and  de- 
light to  the  hours  of  enjoyment  I  had  while  under  your  hos- 
pitable roof;  and  it  is  indeed  my  earnest  wish  and  solicitude 
that  your  decided  tendencies  to  the  best  of  subjects  may  end 
in  a  blessed  consummation.  There  is  no  possibility  of  com- 
ing forth  with  any  prescription  as  to  the  time  that  might  al- 
lowably be  given  to  literature,  and  elegance,  and  society ;  and 
it  would  obliterate  the  character  of  Christianity  altogether 
were  she  made  so  to  deal  out  her  allowances  by  hours  and  by 
quantities.  The  great  object  is  to  keep  the  heart  with  all 
diligence,  and  if  it  were  right,  every  thing  else  would  find  its 
right  and  natural  adjustment  in  the  system  of  one's  concerns, 
and  from  a  code  of  restraint  the  law  of  the  Gospel  would  rise 
to  the  high  distinction  of  being  a  law  of  liberty.  For  the 
right  keeping  of  the  heart,  I  know  not  a  more  summary  and 
thoroughly  evangelical  expedient  than  we  find  in  Jude,  20,  21, 

It  may,  however,  be  affirmed,  that  it  is  a  good  discipline 
to  maintain  self-denial  in  reference  to  all  our  natural  indulg- 
ences, and  we  can  not  be  too  thoroughly  aware,  that  just  as 
it  constitutes  the  crime  of  idolatry  whether  the  image  we  fall 
down  to  worship  be  of  gold  or  of  baser  materials,  so  it  is  quite 
a  possible  thing  to  feed  the  defection  of  the  heart  from  God 
by  a  refined  as  efTectually  as  by  a  coarser  species  of  world- 
liness. 


MRS.  GLASGOW.  107 


I  crave  my  most  respectful  regards  to  Mr.  Glasgow,  whose 
kind  reception  of  me  I  felt  to  be  truly  gratifying.  I  am,  my 
dear  madam,  yours  very  aflectionately, 

Thoi\ias  Chalmers. 

No.  LXXIV. 

My  dear  Madam — I  have  at  length  perused  your  paper, 
and  though  to  me  there  is  no  task  more  fatiguing  and  more 
formidable  than  that  of  transferring  my  mind  to  a  new  sub- 
ject, with  the  view  of  critically  appreciating  the  argument 
that  has  been  raised  upon  it,  yet  I  trust  I  have  been  enabled 
to  seize  upon  the  principle  of  your  composition,  and  on  ra- 
tional and  deliberate  grounds  to  acquiesce  in  it.  I  have  nei- 
ther Ahson  nor  Jefirey  by  me,  and  am  unable  to  estimate 
the  whole  amount  of  the  difference  between  your  theory  and 
theirs  ;  yet  I  can  perceive  a  very  important  novelty  in  the 
compromise  that  you  have  struck  between  Socrates  and  Plato  ; 
in  conceding  to  the  former  his  principle  of  utility,  as  indeed 
the  inherent  or  pervading  principle  of  all  beauty  ;  and  to  the 
latter,  that  as  our  impressions  of  utility  vary  in  difltjrent  in- 
dividuals with  the  accidental  circumstances  or  affections,  the 
character  of  beautiful  which  we  assign  to  visible  objects  will 
depend  on  the  character  of  our  own  emotions.  I  felt  myself 
on  more  famihar  ground,  and  where  I  was  perhaps  better  able 
to  estimate  the  value  of  your  argument  when  I  approached 
toward  the  conclusion  of  your  essay.  It  is,  indeed,  a  most  im- 
portant truth,  that  in  morals  and  theology,  the  soundness  of 
the  affections  stands  most  intimately  linked  with  the  sound- 
ness of  the  understanding  ;  and  I  can  perceive  how  this  very 
principle  does  indeed  shed  a  most  beautiful  light  on  the  de- 
partment of  Taste,  the  correctness  of  which  will,  according  to 
the  views  that  you  have  so  ably  unfolded,  depend  on  the  cor- 
rectness of  the  heart  and  feelings. 

You  still,  I  apprehend,  leave  as  wide  though  not  so  exten- 
sive an  empire  as  does  Alison  to  the  law  of  association.  The 
physical  pleasure  that  certain  sounds  or  sights  confer,  from 


108  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


their  suitableness  to  the  bodily  organ,  is  no  doubt  an  ingre- 
dient of  beauty  which  has  its  primary  and  immediate  resi- 
dence in  the  object  itself",  though  the  remembrance  of  this  in 
time  past  will  influence  to  a  certain  degree,  too,  the  present 
emotion  wherewith  the  object  is  regarded.  But,  saving  on 
this  ground,  the  principle  of  utility  seems  to  have  no  other 
instrument  than  association  for  working  its  influences  upon 
taste. 

Mrs.  Chalmers  and  our  family  are  still  at  Ardincaple,  and 
I  do  feel  the  sea-bathing  to  be  of  great  benefit,  and  retirement 
a  very  great  luxury.  I  took  the  liberty  of  recommending  a 
few  Christian  duodecimos  to  you  when  we  last  met.  May  I 
add  to  the  list  Romaine's  "  Life  of  Faith,"  and  Romaine's 
"  Walk  of  Faith."  I  think  he  unfolds  the  most  peaceful,  and, 
at  the  same  time,  the  most  powerful  way  of  prosecuting  the 
good  work  of  sanctification. 

I  again  beg  my  most  respectful  compliments  to  Mr.  Glas- 
gow, and  with,  every  assurance  of  esteem  and  attachment  to 
yourself,  I  entreat  you  to  believe  me,  my  dear  madam,  yours 
very  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  LXXV. 

Glasgow,  15th  November,  1821. 
My  dear  Madam — I  am  glad  you  have  looked  into  Ed- 
wards; I  think  that  the  great  strength  of  his  argument  for 
the  agreement  of  his  doctrines  with  moral  distinctions,  lies  in 
an  Appendix  that  is  subjoined  to  all  the  later  editions  of  his 
works.  I  am  quite  aware,  however,  that  he  has  failed  to 
convince  some  of  the  ablest  and  most  accomplished  under- 
standings. I  feel  both  amused  and  interested  by  the  lucu- 
brations of  Mr.  Stewart  on  this  subject  in  his  Prehminary  Dis- 
sertation. 

Edwards,  though  the  profoundest  of  all  writers  on  the  more 
deep  and  hidden  tracks  of  speculation,  is  also  the  plainest  and 
most  practical  on  the  more  popular  topics  of  Christianity  ;  nor 
have  I  read  any  thing  more  urgently,  and  even  appallingly 


MRS.  GLASGOW.  109 


impressive,  than  are  some  of  his  sermons.  His  works  are  now 
formed  into  a  complete  edition,  and  I  think  of  them  that 
they  should  hold  a  place  of  supereminence  in  every  theologi- 
cal library. 

We  must  have  more  conversation  on  the  subject  of  AHson 
and  Jeffrey  on  Taste.  I  have  still  the  haunting  impression 
that  Alison  would  concede  to  you  the  opinion  that  you  have 
formed,  and  at  the  same  time  affirm  it  to  be  in  entire  unison 
with  his  own  theory.  If  I  recollect  him  right,  he  denies  the 
power  of  calling  forth  the  emotions  of  taste  to  any  qualities 
strictly  material,  independent  of  their  association  with  some- 
thing else,  or  that  there  is  nothing  either  in  color  or  form  to 
awaken  these  emotions.  There  are,  at  the  same  time,  inher- 
ent qualities  in  external  and  visible  objects  which  may  be 
conceived  as  disjoined  from  either  their  color,  or  shape,  as  the 
usefulness  of  a  horse.  This  usefulness  might  enter  into  our 
impression  of  the  beauty  of  the  animal,  or  in  other  words,  it 
may  be  something  inherent  in  the  horse  that  constitutes  part 
of  its  beauty,  and  yet  a  something  reducible  into  the  prin- 
ciple of  association,  because  that  something  is  not  addressed 
immediately  either  to  the  eye  or  the  ear,  or  any  of  the  senses. 
The  sight  of  him  suggests  his  usefulness,  and  it  is  not  what 
is  immediately  before  you,  but  what  the  mind  is  led  to  con- 
ceive from  it,  that  is  the  cause  of  the  emotion  in  question.  I 
speak  rather  in  the  obscure  and  floundering  style  of  one  whose 
mind  is  not  made  up  on  the  subject,  and  I  am  sure  you  must 
think  me  provokingly  stupid  in  regard  to  it. 

It  delights  me  to  witness  the  approximations  of  one  who 
has  so  much  both  of  literary  accomplishment  and  intellectual 
vigor,  to  a  doctrine  that  is  still  an  offense  and  a  derision 
among  the  philosophers  of  our  existing  generation  ;  and  when 
I  think  of  the  great  moral  distance  that  there  is  between  an 
appreciating  taste  either  for  Alison  or  Stewart  upon  the  one 
hand,  and  a  relish  for  the  writings  of  Guthrie,  or  Romaine, 
or  Owen,  or  John  Newton,  upon  the  other,  I  can  not  but  re- 
joice in  the  infusion  of  the  latter  ihto  a  mind  before  strongly 


no      CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

impregnated  with  the  former,  as  the  hopeful  evidence  of  one 
who  is  under  the  workings  of  a  high  and  heavenly  influence  ; 
and  it  is  indeed  my  earnest  prayer  that,  through  the  Word 
and  Spirit  of  God,  you  may  become  every  day  wiser  unto  sal- 
vation. With  most  respectful  compliments  to  Mr.  Glasgow, 
believe  me,  my  dear  madam,  yours  with  great  esteem  and 
regard,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  LXXVI. 

Friday,  llth  July,  1822. 

My  dear  Madam — In  the  publishing  of  your  Essay  there 
are  two  things  that  must  be  taken  into  account :  First,  the 
taste  of  the  public  has  declined  prodigiously  of  late  years  for 
all  the  topics  of  pure  and  abstract  speculation.  The  talent 
of  our  land  has  now  forced  its  way  into  the  channel  of  peri- 
odical literature  ;  and  there  is  certainly  a  force  and  a  spirit 
in  our  magazines,  and  reviews,  and  even  newspapers,  which 
might  have  done  credit  to  the  best  of  our  British  classics.  But 
certain  it  is  that  a  separate  and  independent  essay  on  such  a 
topic  as  you  have  chosen  is  not  fitted  to  meet  the  present  di- 
rection which  the  demand  for  reading  has  taken.  No  merit, 
or  power  of  argument,  or  of  matter,  that  is  of  so  scientific  a 
character,  will  countervail  the  present  tendencies  of  the  popu- 
lar tastes — and  the  slow  sale  of  Brown's  "Lectures"  is  a  very 
striking  instance  of  it.  The  same  remark  applies,  I  believe, 
to  Stewart's  works,  so  that  both  he  and  Playfair,  to  wdden  the 
circulation  of  their  views,  have  thrown  them  into  Encyclo- 
paedias, these  great  periodical  eddies  of  literature  in  our  day. 

But,  secondly,  to  make  a  work  of  abstract  speculation  no- 
ticeable and  an  object  of  demand,  it  should  be  brought  out  in 
the  permanent  form  of  a  book.  It  is  a  heavy  additional  draw- 
back on  the  circulation  of  an  argument  that  is  purely  phil- 
osophical when  it  is  offered  to  the  public  in  a  pamphlet. 
Brown's  Essay  on  "Cause  and  Effect"  appeared  at  first  in 
this  ephemeral  form,  for  it  had  a  temporary  importance  from 
the  Leslie  controversy  ;  bttt,  to  stamp  endurance  upon  it,  it 


MRS.  GLASGOW.  m 


had  to  be  dilated  into  a  volume.  The  same  is  true  of  a  most 
profound  metaphysical  pamphlet  of  Edwards,  which  might 
have  come  out  still-born,  or  speedily  died  away  from  all  gen- 
eral observation,  had  it  not  been  incorporated  with  his  "  Es- 
say on  the  Will"  in  an  appendix. 

The  suggestion  that  I  would  found  upon  all  this — but  with 
the  utmost  deference,  and  in  the  hope  that  you  will  give  it  no 
further  place  than  you  really  think  it  entitled  to — is,  that  the 
Essay  should  appear,  in  the  first  instance,  in  one  of  our  most 
distinguished  periodicals  (say  the  "  Christian  Observer"), 
where  it  might  call  forth  a  world  of  observation  and  argu- 
ment, and  give  a  direction,  perhaps,  to  other  illustrations  of 
the  principle  on  your  part ;  and  when  enough  of  materials 
have  been  thus  digested  and  accumulated  for  a  volume,  let  it 
pass  into  this  state,  as  Cunninghame's  last  work  did,  which, 
in  fact,  was  brought  out  by  a  gradual  preparation  of  this  very 
kind.  With  most  respectful  compliments  to  Mr.  Glasgow 
and  Miss  Dunlop,  I  entreat  you  to  believe  me,  my  dear  mad- 
am, yours  most  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  LXXVII. 

Glasgow,  loth  November,  1822. 

My  dear  Madam — I  do  not  know  whether  Mr.  Collins  has 
written  you  in  regard  to  the  dedication  ;  but  you  must  really 
permit  us  both  to  say  that  there  are  many  serious  and  weighty 
objections  against  the  appearance  of  it.  I  have  already  been 
made  the  subject  in  print  of  most  gross  and  ungenerous  im- 
putations, on  the  score  of  the  interested  connection  which  is 
alleged  to  subsist  between  myself  and  that  house  ;  and  any 
thing  so  very  eulogistical  printed  by  them  would,  I  am  sure, 
give  a  color  to  these  imputations,  and  altogether  form  such 
an  exhibition  as  might  revolt  even  many  who  at  present  en- 
tertain no  suspicion  of  that  kind. 

I  fear  that  this  would  be  an  insuperable  barrier  to  the  pub- 
lication of  your  work  by  that  house,  if  the  dedication  be  per- 
sisted in  ;  and  I  farther  entreat  your  forgiveness  when  I  say 


112  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

that,  though  published  in  any  circumstances,  I  should  be  dis- 
tressed by  the  appearance  of  it.  It  is  no  doubt  most  flatter- 
ing to  myself  that  I  should  stand  so  high  in  the  estimation  of 
one  whom  I  myself  so  highly  and  so  sincerely  esteem.  But 
I  would  infinitely  rather  that  the  world  was  not  admitted  as 
a  spectator  upon  this  gratification,  which  to  me  were  far  more 
precious  and  satisfying,  if,  undisturbed  by  the  public  gaze,  it 
were  left  in  the^state  of  a  friendship,  that  none  but  the  parties 
themselves  should  know,  and  which  none  else  could  appreci- 
ate. 

I  look  earnestly  forward  to  a  favorable  deliverance  from 
you  upon  this  point,  after  which  I  shall  have  occasion  to  ad- 
vert to  other  particulars  connected  with  the  publication. 

With  most  respectful  compliments  to  Mr.  Glasgow,  and 
most  affectionate  prayers  for  your  own  advancement  in  all 
that  is  good,  and  gracious,  and  heavenly,  I  entreat  you  to  be- 
lieve me,  my  dear  madam,  yours  most  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  LXXVIII. 

2d  April,  1823. 
My  dear  Madam — I  felt  exceedingly  grateful  for  your  let- 
ter, and  much  interested  by  all  that  you  mention  on  the  sub- 
ject of  the  Essay.  I  have  read  it  deliberately  since  I  saw 
you,  and  1  do  think  that  it  will  most  assuredly  work  its  way. 
I  left  a  copy  with  Dr.  Charteris,  of  Wilton,  in  Roxburghshire, 
about  a  month  ago,  who  is  much  pleased  and  interested  ;  and 
it  has  been  read  with  very  intelligent  approbation  by  some  cul- 
tivated ladies  in  that  neighborhood.  I  expect,  however,  soon 
a  still  more  solid  and  profound  testimony  from  Mr.  Douglas, 
of  Cavers,  author  of  the  "  Hints  on  Missions,"  who  has  much 
exercised  his  talents  on  the  philosophy  both  of  taste  and  met- 
aphysics. The  subject  is  such  that  I  should  look  for  a  very 
gradual  sale.  Mr.  Alison's  first  edition  fingered  for  many 
years  in  the  market,  but  I  trust  that  yours  will  obtain  an  ear- 
lier impulse  than  his  did  from  the  reviews  and  journals  of  the 
day. 


MRS.  GLASGOW.  113 


It  grieves  me  to  say  that  some  recent  accessions  of  labor 
and  employment  make  it  quite  imperative  on  me  to  husband 
my  time  to  the  uttermost,  and  more  particularly  to  abridge 
all  my  excursions  from  home.  I  have,  on  this  account,  de- 
clined Mr.  Wilson's  invitation,  and  I  really  can  perceive  no 
outlet  from  my  accumulated  urgencies  till  the  summer  of 
1824. 

I  beg  my  most  respectful  compliments  to  Miss  Dunlop  and 
Mr.  Glasgow.  I  am,  my  dear  madam,  yours  with  great  es- 
teem and  regard,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  LXXIX. 

Glasgow,  21st  August^  1823. 

My  dear  Madam — I  have  to  apologize  for  delaying  to  ac- 
knowledge your  kind  attentions  to  me.  However  much  I  am 
gratified  by  your  opinion  of  what  you  have  seen  of  my  coming 
volume,  I  can  not  but  feel  assured  that  your  partialities  in  be- 
half of  its  unworthy  author  have  enhanced  your  estimation  of 
it.  I  can  not  feel  too  grateful  for  your  expression  of  friendship 
toward  me. 

You  are  kind  enough  to  interest  yourself  in  my  preparation 
for  the  Moral  Philosophy.  I  am  far  from  satisfied,  and  must 
just  flounder  my  way  through  the  new  materials  of  the  sub- 
ject next  winter  in  the  best  manner  that  I  can. 

I  can,  however,  see  it  to  be  replete  with  interest ;  and  that, 
so  far  from  detaching  one's  regards  from  the  first  and  greatest 
of  causes,  I  do  not  know  how  one  can  labor  more  directly  or 
more  importantly  in  its  service  than  by  a  right  elucidation  of 
all  the  topics  connected  with  moral  science.  I  trust  that  I 
may  at  length  be  enabled  to  find  my  way  to  your  favorite  sub- 
ject— the  action  and  reaction  that  taste  and  principle  have 
on  each  other.  I  was  glad  to  understand  from  Mr.  Collins 
that  Foster  appreciated  your  views.  I  hope  that  you  have 
seen  the  last  "  Edinburgh"  on  newspapers.  It  gives  us  a 
singular  view  of  the  present  state  of  the  reading  public  ;  and 
I  am  more  persuaded  than  ever  that  the  readiest  way  of  ob- 


114  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

taining  public  attention  to  almost  any  subject  is  through  the 
medium  of  periodicals.  I  would  strongly  advise  extracts  from 
your  work  in  some  of  our  monthly  publications,  as  to  them  the 
whole  talent  of  our  writers,  and  the  whole  attention  of  our 
readers,  seem  to  have  taken,  what,  I  think,  a  very  unfortunate 
direction.  I  trust  that  the  good  old  fashion  of  entire,  and  in- 
dependent, and  systematic  treatises  will  again  be  restored,  as 
there  is  really  nothing  more  fitted  to  superficialize  an  age  than 
the  sketches,  however  forcible,  and  the  sallies,  however  lively, 
that  have  given  such  currency  to  our  ephemeral  literature. 

I  beg  my  most  respectful  compliments  to  Mr.  Glasgow  and 
Miss  Dunlop ;  and  I  entreat  you  to  believe  me,  my  dear  madam, 
yours  with  much  esteem  and  regard, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  LXXX. 

St.  Andrews,  24f/i  August,  1824. 

My  dear  Madam — I  have  never  lost  sight  of  my  promise 
to  send  you  a  sermon  on  Colossians,  iv.,  5.  I  find  that  it  does 
not  by  any  means  exhaust  the  subject,  and,  indeed,  forms  only 
the  part  of  a  projected  treatise  on  the  kindred  subjects  to  that 
of  which  it  treats.  It  is  on  this  account  that  I  would  take 
the  liberty  of  requesting  you  to  send  it  back  when  you  are 
done  with  it ;  at  the  same  time,  you  are  most  welcome  to 
take  a  copy,  and  make  any  use  of  that  copy  which  you  please. 
But  I  shall  require  it,  both  for  the  preparation  of  my  treatise, 
and  also,  perhaps,  for  preaching  occasionally. 

After  the  bustle  of  Glasgow,  there  is  a  peculiar  charm  in 
the  calmness  and  tranquillity  of  St.  Andrews, 

With  most  respectful  compliments  to  Mr.  Glasgow,  I  have 
the  honor  to  be,  my  dear  madam,  yours  with  great  esteem, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  LXXXI. 

St.  Andrews,  26/^1  October,  1824. 
My  dear  Madam — I  received  your  kind  letter  of  the  7th  of 


MRS.  GLASGOW.  115 


October  by  the  hands  of  Miss  Dunlop,  whom  I  had  very  great 
pleasure  in  meeting  when  last  in  Edinburgh. 

I  feel  the  exceeding  justness  of  your  remarks  on  the  subject 
of  my  sermon.  There  is  a  great  want  of  specification  in  its 
advices,  and  I  fairly  confess  that  I  should  feel  it  very  difficult 
to  condescend  upon  the  details  of  our  conversation,  as  becom- 
eth  Christians,  with  the  people  of  the  world,  and  as  yet  am 
really  not  qualified  for  more  than  the  very  general  bearings 
and  landmarks  of  the  subject. 

But  Avhat  interested  me  far  more,  though  very  painfully  and 
with  deep  sympathy  for  yourself,  was  the  account  that  Miss 
Dunlop  gave  me  of  Mr.  Glasgow.  His  illness  was  subsequent, 
I  observe,  to  the  date  of  your  letter,  and  I  can  not  think  with- 
out emotion  of  the  exercise  that  your  mind  and  feelings  must 
undergo.  We  have  had  experimental  proof,  on  such  trying 
occasions,  of  the  efficacy  of  prayer  ;  and  sure  I  am,  that  how- 
ever general  this  direction  may  be,  it  is  pertinent  and  particu- 
lar enough  to  have  been  often  followed  up  by  a  special  bless- 
ing even  in  those  cases  that  looked  most  hopeless. 

My  syllabus  of  lectures  is,  indeed,  a  very  imperfect  exhibi- 
tion of  the  great  subject  to  which  I  should  like  to  devote  much 
of  my  future  attention.  I  must  model  and  remodel  many 
times  over  ere  I  can  bring  it  to  that  state  in  which  I  would 
like  to  leave  it  conclusively.  Mrs.  Chalmers,  and  our  chil- 
dren, I  have  reason  to  bless  God,  are  in  very  good  health. 
She  feels  deeply  with  myself  for  the  situation  of  Mr.  Glas- 
gow, and  desires,  along  with  me,  her  best  and  kindest  re- 
gards. I  entreat  you  to  believe  me,  my  dear  madam,  yours 
with  the  greatest  esteem  and  regard, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  LXXXII. 

St.  Andrews,  26th  February,  1825. 
My  dear  Madam — Your  kind  letter  of  11th  December  I 
should  have  replied  to  long  ago.     I  enter  fully  into  the  diffi- 
culties of  your  situation,  and  am  grieved  to  hear  from  most 


116  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

recent  accounts  that  Mr.  Glasgow's  health  is  not  improved ; 
but  surely,  if  aught  should  reconcile  us  to  these  adverse  visit- 
ations, it  must  be  their  undoubted  efficacy  as  the  instru- 
ments often  of  a  great  revival  to  the  soul  that  is  exercised 
by  them.  There  is  nothing  of  vi^hich  I  am  more  thoroughly 
aware  than  the  utter  difference  which  there  is  between  a  spec- 
ulative and  an  experimental  conviction  of  the  same  truth.  I 
may  know  that  there  is  peace  with  God  through  Christ,  with- 
out that  peace  being  actually  mine  :  I  may  have  the  most 
orthodox  notion  of  the  ground  of  acceptance,  without  person- 
ally resting  on  that  ground  and  having  the  sense  of  my  own 
acceptance  :  I  may  have  a  just  perception  of  the  truth  as  it 
is  in  Jesus,  without  any  real  part  in  it ;  and  this  appears  to 
me  to  be  the  use  of  affliction.  It  loosens  us  from  the  earthly 
dependence,  and  forces  us  to  feel  and  to  sound,  as  it  \vere,  for 
a  heavenly  one.  Instead  of  merely  looking  to  the  solidity  of 
that  foundation  which  God  hath  laid  in  Zion,  we  are  led  ac- 
tually to  lean  upon  it.  That  which  was  formerly  a  thing  of 
contemplation,  comes  to  be  a  thing  of  personal  interest  ;  and 
whereas  the  understanding  alone  was  formerly  concerned  Aviih 
the  doctrine,  the  heart,  and  the  hopes,  and  all  the  feelings  of 
our  nature  come  into  busy  engagement  with  the  truths  of  rev- 
elation, which  the  mind  now  gladly  seeks  to  in  the  absence  of 
those  worldly  blessings  that  were  wont  to  be  enough  for  it. 

It  was  therefore  M'ith  no  common  interest  that  I  read  of 
your  spirit  of  adoption,  and  your  sense  of  peace  in  Christ 
Jesus — most  precious  experiences,  which  I  pray  you  may  ever 
be  enabled  to  retain,  and  which  I  can  assure  you  are  worthy 
of  whole  worlds  to  be  realized. 

There  has  left  us  for  Glasgow  a  very  particular  friend  of 
mine,  Mr.  Craik,  a  student  of  St.  Andrews,  and  of  most  ex- 
traordinary eloquence  and  power.  He  has  just  delivered  a 
course  of  lectures  here  upon  English  Poetry,  and  Avilh  very 
great  force  and  felicity,  both  of  imagination  and  language. 
He  is  to  deliver  the  same  lectures  in  Glasgow,  and,  though  I 
fear  it  is  out  of  the  question  that  you  should  be  in  Glasgow 


MRS.  GLASGOW.  117 


during  any  part  of  his  stay,  yet,  acquainted  as  you  are  with 
the  most  hterary  and  cultivated  of  the  mercantile  class  in 
that  city,  I  should  deem  it  a  kindness  if  you  would  simply 
state  to  any  of  them  the  kind  of  entertainment  which  they 
may  expect  by  attending  Mr.  Craik.  They  will  find  in  ev- 
ery one  of  his  lectures  a  very  rich  feast,  both  of  intellect  and 
fancy. 

Mrs.  Chalmers  and  our  family  are  all  in  good  health.  With 
best  wishes  and  prayers,  both  in  behalf  of  yourself  and  Mr. 
Glasgow,  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  my  dear  madam,  yours  most 
respectfully,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  LXXXIII. 

Glasgow,  22d  September,  1825. 

My  dear  Madam — I  have  the  utmost  desire  to  meet  with 
you,  and  contemplated  writing  you,  when  I  should  be  at  Fair- 
ley  next  week,  upon  the  subject.  I  am  glad  to  understand 
that  Mrs.  Parker  has  asked  you  to  be  there  along  with  our 
family.  I  shall  yet  be  other  four  Sundays  in  Glasgow,  and 
have  therefore  time  enough  for  postponing  the  consideration 
of  any  ulterior  arrangement  till  next  week. 

I  am  much  gratified  by  being  made  to  understand  from  you 
that  Mr.  Glasgow  is  in  a  more  comfortable  state  of  health. 
May  the  Giver  of  all  grace  sanctify  the  various  trials  and  ap- 
prehensions to  w^hich  we  are  exposed  in  this  our  earthly  pil- 
grimage. This  is  the  day  on  which  I  preach  a  sermon  at 
laying  the  foundation  of  Knox's  monument,  a  subject  not  at 
all  points  congenial  to  me,  but  which  was  put  upon  me  by 
the  excessive  urgency  of  some  of  my  friends.  I  am,  my  dear 
madam,  yours  with  great  esteem  and  regard, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  LXXXIV. 

Glasgow,  I2th  October,  1825. 
My  dear  Madam — I  spent  all  last  week  with  my  friend 
Mr.  Wood,  and  got  quit  of  my  sore  eyes  in  a  kw  days.     Will 


118  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

you  have  the  goodness  to  say  to  Dr.  Allan  that  I  made  use 
of  his  prescription  with  great  effect. 

I  found  it  a  very  tough  aud  arduous  undertaking  to  deliv- 
er myself  on  the  subject  of  Predestination  in  one  day.  How- 
ever, I  am  now  done  with  the  subject ;  and,  while  quite  as- 
sured of  the  doctrine,  I  feel  equally  assured  that  it  leaves  all 
the  incitements,  and  all  the  obligations,  and  the  M'hole  work 
of  practical  Christianity,  from  its  commencement  to  its  con- 
summation, precisely  where  it  found  them.  It  is  worthy  of 
all  observation,  that  while  the  Gentiles  are  represented  as  the 
objects  of  a  previous  Predestination,  we  are  made  to  under- 
stand, at  the  conclusion  of  the  chapter,  that  this  was  made 
good  by  their  acceptance  of  the  free  offer  of  the  Gospel ;  and 
that  those  decreed  reprobates,  the  Jews,  only  became  so 
through  their  rejection  of  that  offer  ;  and  that  the  whole  ar- 
gument closes  with  a  "  whosoever,"  a  wide  and  a  welcome 
proclamation  to  all  who  will.  Our  business  surely  is  not  with 
the  decrees,  whereof  we  know  nothing,  but  with  the  instant 
declarations  which  are  sounding  in  our  ears,  with  the  word 
that  is  nigh  unto  us,  with  God  not  in  the  act  of  ordination 
millions  of  centuries  back,  but  with  God  in  the  act  of  urgent, 
and  kind,  and  honest  entreaty  at  this  moment.  Let  us  there- 
fore leave  the  secret  things  which  belong  unto  God  where 
they  ought  to  be  left,  and  proceed  on  those  revealed  things 
which  belong  to  ourselves  and  to  our  children. 

May  I  be  permitted  to  say,  that  if  I  may  judge  from  my 
own  feelings,  the  trials  wherewith  you  have  been  exercised 
must  greatly  enhance  the  regard  and  the  interest  of  all  your 
friends.  It  is  a  difficult,  but,  to  a  Christian,  not  an  imprac- 
ticable achievement,  to  count  it  all  joy  when  he  falls  into  di- 
vers tribulations.  A  believing  view  of  eternity  would  absorb 
all  our  griefs  and  all  our  provocations.  May  the  God  and  the 
Giver  of  all  comfort  prove  a  resting-place  to  your  spirit,  and 
may  you  be  enabled  to  hide  yourself  in  the  pavilion  of  His 
residence  till  all  calamities  be  overpast.  I  am,  my  dear  mad- 
am, yours  with  the  greatest  esteem  and  regard^ 


MRS.  GLASGOW.  119 


No.  LXXXV. 

St.  Andrews,  13th  December,  1825. 

My  dear  Madam — I  feel  myself  a  good  deal  goaded  at 
present  with  the  necessity  of  having  my  third  volume  on  the 
Christian  and  Civic  Economy  of  Great  Towns  in  readiness 
for  the  press  by  January.  It  has  been  got  up  in  a  sad  hur- 
ry, and  with  none  of  that  leisure  and  care  which  I  should 
like  to  bestow  on  all  my  future  literary  preparations.  But 
it  is  my  last  engagement,  and  I  am  glad,  by  getting  quit  of 
it,  to  be  wholly  emancipated  for  the  pursuits  of  my  new  pro- 
fession, which  are  only  commencing  now  in  good  earnest. 

I  observe  by  your  last  that  you  have  been  exercised  afresh 
by  the  death  of  relatives.  May  these  visitations  lead  us  to  a 
truer  estimate  of  the  worth  of  things,  that  we  may  neither  be 
elated  by  this  world's  abundance,  nor  cast  down  by  its  ad- 
versities and  its  crosses.  It  is  remarkable,  that  in  the  para- 
ble of  the  sower,  the  cares  of  this  life  are  enumerated  along 
with  its  pleasures  among  the  thorns  which  overbear  the  good 
seed  of  the  word  of  God.  I  have  often  thought,  too,  of  the 
sorrow  of  this  world  being  adverted  to  as  a  counterpart  to 
godly  sorrow,  and  of  the  property  which  is  ascribed  to  it — 
"  that  it  Avorketh  death." 

I  am  delighted  with  the  justness  of  your  views  on  the  sub- 
ject of  Predestination.  In  regard  to  the  union  of  fear  and 
love,  I  feel  the  importance  of  what  you  say  in  regard  to  the 
former  affection  as  an  instrument  for  the  conversion  of  sin- 
ners. It  is  exceedingly  good  to  mark  the  gradual  operation 
of  this  feehng  in  bringing  the  inquirer  onward  from  the  be- 
ginning of  wisdom  to  the  state  of  being  perfect  in  love.  I  did 
touch  upon  this  matter  in  a  sermon  on  the  text,  "  Some  save 
with  fear,  and  others  with  compassion,  making  a  difference." 
But  it  would  require  to  be  much  more  fully  illustrated. 

I  do  not  know  if  you  have  seen  "  Leighton  on  Peter."  I 
am  sure  that  you  would  rejoice  in  that  book  as  a  very  high 
Christian  feast.  I  am,  my  dear  madam,  yours  with  the  great- 
ost  regard,  Thomas  Chalmers 


120  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


No.  LXXXVI. 

St.  Andrews,  1th  June,  1826. 

My  dear  Madam — I  fear  that  my  first  Sunday  at  Glasgow 
must  be  so  late  as  the  first  Sunday  of  August,  or  August  the 
6th.  I  mean  to  approach  it  by  a  very  unusual  route — by  East 
Lothian,  Berwickshire,  Roxburghshire,  Dumfriesshire,  Gallo- 
way, and  Ayrshire.  On  this  line  I  visit  several  of  my  ac- 
quaintances, and  more  especially  a  sister,  married  only  yester- 
day to  a  clergyman  in  Kirkcudbrightshire.  If  perfectly  con- 
venient for  you,  I  would  come  from  Irvine  to  Mountgreenan 
on  Saturday,  the  5th  of  August,  and  return  from  Glasgow  on 
the  evening  of  Sunday  the  6th,  to  spend  a  week  there.  I 
trust,  however,  that  you  will  decline  receiving  mo,  if  either 
the  state  of  Mr.  Glasgow's  health  or  any  other  circumstance 
should  render  it  unsuitable. 

I  will  not  disguise  it,  that,  next  to  the  happiness  of  your 
own  society,  I  value  the  quietness  and  retirement  of  Mount- 
greenan, and  would  gladly  avail  myself  of  these  advantages 
for  a  more  intense  work  of  Sabbath  preparation  than  I  have 
yet  been  able  to  fulfill.  The  truth  is,  that  I  have  found  the 
study  and  society  together  greatly  too  much  for  me  on  my 
recent  visits  to  the  west ;  and  I  should  vastly  desiderate  that 
entire  command  of  the  forenoon  which  you  have  ever  had  the 
goodness  to  allow  me,  and  which,  intermingled  as  it  was  with 
recreation  and  converse  of  the  highest  order,  has  inspired  me 
with  the  pleasantest  recollections  of  your  place  and  neighbor- 
hood. I  am,  my  dear  madam,  yours  with  the  greatest  esteem 
and  regard,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  LXXXVIL 

St.  Andrews,  A:th  December,  1826. 
My  dear  Madam — I  am  much  interested  by  what  you 
say  of  Mr.  Cunninghame.     When  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meet- 
ing him  at  Mountgreenan,  he  interested  me  much  more  than 
I  had  ever  before  been  in  the  study  of  prophecy,  by  the  as 


MRS.  GLASGOW.  121 


sertion  that  he  made,  both  upon  his  own  experience  and 
upon  that  of  others,  of  its  spiritualizing  tendency.  I  have  re- 
solved to  make  a  deliberate  efibrt  upon  that  subject,  but  have 
scarcely  had  time  to  begin.  I  have,  however,  been  reading 
some  proof-sheets  of  a  new  publication  by  Mr.  Irving — that 
is,  the  translation  of  a  prophetic  work  from  the  Spanish.  It 
seems  very  able.  I  believe  it  will  make  me  a  millenarian  ; 
and  I  can  certainly  conceive  from  it  that  the  study  of  proph- 
ecy should  have  a  very  powerful  effect  in  strengthening  one's 
])ractical  Christianity.  I  am  glad  that  your  work  is  speed- 
ily to  be  made  the  subject  of  a  review,  which  I  sincerely 
hope  will  do  justice  to  it.  That  my  mind  is  not  absolutely 
established  on  the  side  of  its  theory  does  not  affect  the  ques- 
tion of  whether  or  not  I  think  it  should  have  been  published. 
Both  Alison's  and  Jeffrey's  books  on  the  same  subject  are  val- 
uable accessions  to  English  Literature,  even  though  their  the- 
ories do  diverge  somewhat  from  each  other,  and  though  I  can 
not  say  that  either  has  made  me  a  decided  proselyte.  The 
same  applies  to  what  Brown  has  written  upon  this  subject. 
Successive  authors  might  make  successive  approximations  to 
the  truth,  and,  though  one  is  doubtful  as  to  the  truth  of  any 
of  their  promulgated  systems,  yet  he  may  not  be  at  all  doubt- 
ful of  its  worth  as  a  contribution  to  the  mass  of  literature  on 
that  subject.  I  must  repeat,  however,  that  I  should  have 
preferred  your  work  to  have  come  out,  in  the  first  instance, 
through  the  medium  of  some  of  our  best  journals,  as  being  far 
the  most  noticeable  way  in  the  present  direction  which  the 
public  have  taken  toward  periodical  literature.  I  experience 
this  in  the  dull  sale  of  my  own  works  on  Political  Economy. 
I  am,  my  dear  madam,  yours  very  respectfully, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  LXXXVIII. 

St.  Andrews,  21st  February,  1828. 
My  dear  Madam — Accept   of  my  best  thanks  for  your 
friendly  congratulations  on  the  subject  of  my  recent  appomt- 
V  F 


123  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

ment  to  Edinburgh.  The  preparation  is  a  work  of  great  la- 
bor, and  indeed  I  may  say  that  it  is  now  my  main  though 
not  my  only  employment,  as  I  have  at  present  the  teaching 
of  two  classes  besides.  In  the  course  of  my  reading  for  the 
Theological  Chair,  I  have  fallen  in  with  a  French  work  of 
Leibnitz's,  entitled  "  Essais  de  Theodicee  sur  la  bonte  de  Dieu, 
la  liberie  de  I'homme,  et  I'origine  du  mal."  I  am  sure  it 
would  interest  you.  He  is  a  Necessitarian  ;  but,  though  not 
so  close  in  argument,  is  far  more  illustrative  and  philosophi- 
cal than  Edwards.  He  has,  besides,  a  richness  and  an  ele- 
gance which  the  other  has  no  pretensions  to.  He  gives  much 
information  about  the  state  of  moral  and  metaphysical  science 
in  the  Continent  at  that  period  ;  and,  though  he  has  not  just 
resolved  the  question  of  the  origin  of  evil,  yet  he  has  advanced 
such  plausibilities  upon  the  subject  as  serve  to  reconcile  us  in 
the  mean  time  to  a  suspension  of  our  judgment  till  "  the  day 
shall  declare  it,"  even  the  "day  of  the  revelation  of  the  mys- 
tery of  God."  I  do  not  recommend  this  work  for  its  practi- 
cal piety,  but  rather  for  what  may  be  called  its  philosophical 
orthodoxy ;  and  it  is  most  interesting  to  follow  the  specula- 
tions of  one  so  illustrious  in  science  on  the  sublime  doctrines 
and  mysteries  of  our  faith. 

My  work  of  practical  piety  at  present  is  Boston,  one  of  our 
Scottish  authors.  I  am  now  reading  his  "  Fourfold  State," 
and  I  think  his  little  treatise  entitled  "  The  Crook  in  the  Lot" 
is  very  precious. 

I  fear  that  my  engagements  are  such  that  the  composition 
of  a  sermon  on  any  special  topic  at  present  is  out  of  the  ques- 
tion. The  subject  that  you  advert  to,  however,  is  one  on 
which  there  must  be  some  impressive  treatises;  and  it  occurs 
to  me  to  say,  that  if  I  remember  right,  there  are  French  tracts 
which  have  been  published  by  the  Continental  Society,  and 
some  of  which,  I  am  confident,  must  bear  upon  Scriptural  read- 
ing. I  know  not  a  cheaper  and  more  productive  benevolence 
than  the  distribution  of  such  pamphlets,  when  well  chosen. 

We  are  all  pretty  well.     May  the  God  of  all  mercy  ever 


MRS.  DUNLOP.  123 


be  with  you,  and  in  His  precious  Bible  may  you  never  want 
for  refreshment  and  consolation.  Believe  me,  my  dear  mad- 
am, yours  with  greatest  affection  and  esteem, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 


No.  LXXXIX. — Letter  to  Mrs.  Dunlop. 

Skirling  Manse,  Biggar,  8th  June^  1842. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Dunlop — I  was  much  impressed  by  your 
farewell  sentence  at  our  parting  in  the  Meadows  on  Saturday 
afternoon,  and  have  felt  ever  since  that  I  could  not  do  ade- 
quate justice  to  the  common  sentiment  which  I  believe  act- 
uated us  both,  without  addressing  you  a  few  lines  upon  the 
subject. 

In  one  respect  our  experience  is  very  much  at  one.  In 
early  life  my  fellowships,  and  of  course  my  preferences,  were 
all  on  the  side  of  that  cold  and  moderate  system  of  Chris- 
tianity which  is  sometimes  dignified  by  the  appellation  of  ra- 
tional. I  have  heard  you  complain  that  you  almost  never 
heard  any  exposition  of  the  evangelical  system  from  the  pul- 
pit ;  and  that  when  that  mode  of  preaching  became  more  fre- 
quent and  fashionable,  it  came  upon  you  with  a  sence  of  nov- 
elty. With  me,  again — and  here  perhaps  we  differ  in  our 
histories — that  system  was  not  unknown,  but  then  it  was  the 
object  of  antipathy  and  distaste  ;  and  nothing  can  be  more  dis- 
tinct than  my  two  mental  states  in  reference  to  Christianity 
before  and  after  the  age  of  thirty,  since  which  time  the  pecu- 
liar doctrines  of  the  Gospel  have  risen  every  year  in  my  esti- 
mation ;  and  I  have  long  been  persuaded  that  the  only  way 
of  salvation  is  through  the  knowledge  of  Christ  and  of  Him 
crucified. 

To  me  the  most  precious  verses  in  the  Bible  are  those  which 
give  a  specific  and  pointed  direction  to  the  overtures  of  recon- 
ciliation in  such  terms  as  warrant  the  reader  to  apply  them 
to  himself  individually.  For  example,  "The  blood  ofClirist 
cleanseth  from  all  sin."     Why  not  from  my  sin  ? — "  Come 


124  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

unto  me  all''  Why  not  I? — "  Whosoever  cometh  shall  in 
no  wise  be  cast  out."  Let  me  come,  then,  sure  of  Heaven's 
welcome  and  of  Heaven's  good- will. — "  li  any  man  open  the 
door  of  his  heart,  I  will  enter  and  be  at  peace  with  him." 
Let  me  take  to  myself  the  encouragement  of  this  blessed  say- 
ing, ''Every  one  that  asketh  receiveth."  Let  me  ask  till  I 
receive,  seek  till  I  find,  knock  till  the  door  be  opened.  I  have 
often  said  that  there  is  not  a  greater  help  to  the  way  of  peace 
than  a  prayerful  reading  of  the  Bible.  The  profitable  way 
of  reading  is  to  read  it  with  application,  and  as  if  God,  through 
His  word,  were  holding  individual  converse  with  me. 

I  was  much  gratified  by  your  favorable  opinion  of  my 
daughter  Grace.  Though  I  say  it  myself,  she  is  no  ordinary 
person,  and  therefore  it  is  that  she  has  lived  beyond  the 
sight  and  sympathy  of  ordinary  minds.  She  is  with  me  here 
at  Skirling,  as  well  as  Mrs.  Chalmers,  and  I  hope  that  both 
of  them  will  benefit  by  the  change  of  air.  Mrs.  Glasgow*  I 
always  regarded  as  a  very  intellectual  person,  and  she  blend- 
ed the  spiritual  with  it  during  the  last  years  of  her  life  ;  and 
I  remember  well  the  pleasure  I  felt  in  observing  how  she  con- 
genialized  with  the  homely  but  substantial  writings  of  the 
good  old  Puritans,  and  that  notwithstanding  her  refined  liter- 
ary taste.  It  is  this  union  of  the  literary  with  the  evangel- 
ical which  makes  Grace  so  interesting  to  me. 

It  is  my  earnest  prayer,  my  dear  Mrs.  Dunlop,  that  the 
evening  of  your  life  may  be  more  and  more  irradiated  with 
the  hopes  of  the  Gospel,  and  that  you  may  have  great  peace 
and  great  joy  in  placing  your  full  reliance  on  that  mercy 
which,  in  the  economy  of  our  redemption,  stands  associated 
with  a  truth  which  never  fails.  I  am,  my  dear  madam, 
yours  very  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

=*  Mrs.  Dunlop's  sister. 


MRS.  PARKER.  135 


LETTERS  TO  MRS.  PARKER. 
No.  XC. 

Glasgow,  1th  May,  1823. 
My  dear  Madam— Mrs.  Chalmers  desires  me  to  say  that, 
as  soon  as  Dr.  Rainy  authorizes  the  movement,  she  will  most 
gratefully  avail  herself  of  your  kind  invitation.*  Blochairn 
has  often  been  a  most  precious  and  important  asylum  to  me, 
and  It  is  there  that  I  have  always  been  most  protected  from 
all  that  could  interfere  with  mental  exercises.  With  kindest 
compliments  to  Mr.  and  the  Misses  Parker,  I  entreat  you  to 
believe  me,  my  dear  madam,  yours  most  gratefully, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  XCI. 

Blochairn,  \st  July,  1823. 

My  dear  Madam — I  feel  the  utmost  gratitude  for  the  very 
perfect  accommodation  that  I  here  enjoy,  and  shall  never  for- 
get the  lasting  obhgations  under  which  you  have  laid  both 
myself  and  my  family.  We  have  a  few  callers,  but  nothing 
oppressive  in  this  way.  Dr.  Lockhart  and  his  lady  have  paid 
us  a  short  visit  :  we  feel  exceedingly  comfortable,  and,  I  am 
sure,  are  greatly  better  off  than  we  could  possibly  have  been 
in  any  situation  that  had  been  selected  by  ourselves.  Grace 
has  been  thrown  somewhat  aback  by  cold,  but  has  certainly 
made  progress,  upon  the  whole,  since  she  came  out  to  Blo- 
chairn. 

I  can  not  adequately  express  the  thankfulness  I  feel  for  that 
kind  Providence  which  has  conducted  me  to  the  aiTangement 
that  I  now  enjoy.  I  would  have  sunk  under  the  accumula- 
ted weight  of  my  prospects  and  preparations  had  it  not  been 
for  this  precious  season  of  tranquillity.  I  have  now  the  like- 
ly anticipation  of  such  a  readiness  for  my  new  office  as  may 
warrant  the  hope  of  getting  over  the  approaching  winter  with 
some  degree  of  comfort.  With  kindest  compliments  to  the 
*  See  Memoirs,  vol.  ii..  p.  472. 


126  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

Misses  Parker  and  Mr.  James,  I  entreat  you  to  believe  me, 
my  dear  madam,  yours  with  gratitude  and  esteem, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  XCII. 

Blochairn,  llth  July,  1823. 
My  dear  Madam — Mrs.  Chalmers  was  interrupted  in  her 
purpose  to  write  this  letter,  and  as  she  is  still  in  bed,  and  our 
messenger  with  us  at  present,  I  have  to  state  from  her  that 
she  knows  you  will  be  gratified  to  hear  that  Grace,  in  spite 
of  short  and  temporary  fluctuations  from  one  day  to  another, 
is  making  steady  and  general  progress,  and  is  certainly  much 
stronger  and  better  than  when  she  first  came  out.  I  have 
great  satisfaction  in  adding  that  Mrs.  Chalmers  herself  is  evi- 
dently improved  by  her  country  residence  ;  and  there  are  ad- 
ditional grounds  of  thankfulness  for  all  the  convenience  and 
pleasure  enjoyed  by  myself  in  this  most  retired  and  romantic 
spot.     Yours  most  affectionately, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  XCIII. 

9th  October,  1823. 

My  dear  Madam — Mrs.  Chalmers  fixes  on  Friday  week, 
being  the  17th  of  this  month,  as  the  one  that  would  suit  her 
intended  movement,  for  your  servant  being  at  Blochairn.  We 
had  proposed  to  move  on  the  Saturday,  being  the  18th,  and 
we  think  it  well  that  the  turmoil  of  the  Synod  is  over  before 
we  enter  into  Glasgow.  The  remaining  few  weeks  will  no 
more  than  suffice  for  our  preparations  previous  to  our  depart- 
ure. 

There  is  one  point  of  neghgence  on  which  I  can  not  reflect 
without  compunction.  I  have  not  visited  those  humble  neigh- 
bors whom  I  should  have  plied  with  ministerial  advice  and  at- 
tention. I  have  only  seen  Mrs.  Sibbald  once,  and  Mrs.  Smith 
but  for  a  single  moment,  when  I  left  a  promise  that  I  have 
not,  from  bad  health,  been  able  to  fulfill.     Walter's  wife  I 


MRS.  PARKER.  127 


have  never  visited,  and,  on  looking  back,  I  can  offer  no  other 
explanation  than  that  I  have  allowed  my  prospective  labors 
to  encroach  a  great  deal  too  much  on  my  present  duties. 

We  shall  always  look  back  on  Blochairn  with  feelings  of 
peculiar  interest  and  delight,  and  will  never  fail  to  join  with 
the  recollection  that  kindness  from  which  our  family  have  de- 
rived such  inestimable  benefits. 

Yours  very  affectionately,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  XCIV. 

Blochairn,  20th  October,  1823. 

My  dear  Madam — We  have  delayed  leaving  this  delight- 
ful neighborhood  for  two  days  longer  than  we  originally  pur- 
posed, and  only  take  our  final  departure  this  morning.  "We 
fear  that  this  may  have  somewhat  disturbed  and  deranged 
the  operations  of  your  servants.  Our  little  Grace,  in  virtue 
of  a  severe  toothache,  had  become  quite  feverish  on  Saturday, 
and  we  were  apprehensive  of  the  consequences  of  a  removal. 
I  myself  had  been  laid  up,  and  am  now  greatly  the  better  of 
the  repose  and  retirement  of  one  rural  Sabbath.  We  are 
now  in  full  equipment  for  moving.  There  is,  indeed,  an  im- 
pressive necessity  now  for  beginning  our  operations  at  Wind- 
sor Place  as  soon  as  possible.  But  we  do  leave  this  inter- 
esting mansion  with  deep  emotions  of  regret.  My  walks  have 
supplied  me  with  many  local  associations  that  will  serve  to 
impress  with  vivacity  upon  my  remembrance  an  abode  where- 
with I  shall  ever  connect  the  most  inestimable  blessings  to 
my  family. 

I  shall  not  trouble  you  any  further  with  the  expression  of 
a  gratitude  that,  I  am  sure,  both  with  Mrs.  Chalmers  and 
myself,  will  never  be  effaced,  but  remain  indelible  under  all 
the  varieties  of  our  future  history  in  the  world. 

Yours  most  affectionately,  Thomas  Chalmers. 


128  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


No.  XCV. 

St.  Andrews,  5th  January,  1824. 

My  dear  Madam — I  should  have  written  long  ere  now  of 
Mrs.  Chalmers's  arrival  and  of  her  excellent  health.  I  have 
the  utmost  reason  to  bless  God  for  the  state  of  my  family. 

We  have  greatly  humanized  the  appearance  of  our  house 
since  Mr.  Parker  saw  it,  and  I  beg  that  he  will  give  up  liis 
benevolent  alarms  upon  that  account.  The  public  rooms  are 
both  most  comfortable,  and,  with  the  exception  of  our  bed- 
room, they  are  all  in  a  very  fair  and  habitable  state.  The 
truth  is,  that  my  Glasgow  friends  were  not  in  fair  circum- 
stances for  a  right  judgment  upon  the  matter,  as  they  saw 
the  house  in  a  wholly  dismantled  state  and  without  furniture. 
I  have  Mrs.  Chalmers's  authority  for  saying  that  it  is  a  much 
better  habitation  than  she  had  been  led  to  apprehend  it. 

It  will,  I  am  sure,  give  you  much  pleasure  to  know  that 
hitherto  I  have  had  great  peace  and  comfort  in  St.  Andrews. 
The  weather  has,  upon  the  whole,  been  uncommonly  fine, 
and  the  walks  are  delightful.  It  is  not  that  I  have  little  sen- 
sibility toward  Glasgow,  the  place  I  have  left,  but  that  the 
air,  and  the  tranquillity,  and  the  style  of  occupation  of  the 
place  I  am  in,  are  all  so  very  congenial  to  my  habits,  that  I 
have  so  much  of  enjoyment  in  St.  Andrews  ;  and  it  gives  me 
the  utmost  pleasure  to  connect  the  facilities  of  my  present 
condition  with  my  residence  in  Blochairn.  It  is  to  that  ar- 
rangement that  I  owe  such  an  amount  of  preparation  for  my 
class  as  has  made  an  undertaking  practicable  that  otherwise 
would  have  been  most  oppressive. 

I  feel  that  I  have  been  wanting  in  my  duty  not  to  have 
written  you  sooner,  and  greatly  wanting  in  it  not  to  have  writ- 
ten Dr.  Rainy,*  whose  unwearied  friendship  and  assiduous  of- 
fices of  kindness  to  my  family  have  given  him  as  high  a  place 
in  my  gratitude  as  he  before  had  in  my  esteem  and  regard. 
Mrs.  Chalmers  joins  in  kindest  regards  to  the  whole  farn- 
*  Mr.s.  Parker's  brother. 


MRS.  PARKER. 


129 


ily,  and  our  children — who,  by-the-way,  attend  a  most  excel- 
lent school  at  our  very  door — send  their  best  wishes  to  Miss 
Anne  Parker.  May  the  protection  of  heaven  ever  be  over 
you  ;  and  may  the  sense  of  God,  as  God  in  Christ,  be  ever 
present,  both  to  cheer  and  to  sanctify  the  hearts  of  all  in 
whom  you  are  interested.  I  am,  my  dear  madam,  yours  with 
the  utmost  gratitude  and  esteem,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  XCVI. — Letter  to  Mr.  Parker. 

St.  Andrews,  25th  February,  1825. 

My  dear  Sir — It  gave  me  the  utmost  satisfaction  to  hear 
from  Mrs.  Parker  of  Mr.  James's=*  academic  honors  :  I  had 
before  been  apprized  of  them  by  the  London  newspapers. 

The  letter  I  received  some  time  ago  from  Mr.  Charles  took 
no  notice  of  his  providential  escape  at  Guadaloupe.  I  was 
much  impressed  with  Mrs.  Parker's  description  of  it,  and  I  do 
sincerely  hope  that  a  circumstance  so  awakening  will  not  be 
lost  on  your  son,  who  has  been  delivered  in  a  way  that  so 
strikingly  announces  the  hand  of  an  unseen  Preserver. 

Mrs.  Chalmers  and  the  family  are  all  in  remarkable  health. 
The  weather  here  is  quite  marvelous  for  the  season.  We 
have  had  a  succession  of  the  finest  vernal  days — or,  I  might 
say,  weeks — that  I  ever  recollect,  though  we  can  not  but  have 
an  overcast  before  the  winter  has  altogether  passed  away. 

With  kindest  and  most  respectful  compliments  to  Mrs.  and 
the  Misses  Parker,  in  which  Mrs.  Chalmers  joins,  I  am,  my 
dear  sir,  yours  most  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  XCVII. 

St.  Andrews,  25th  June,  1825. 
My  dear  Madam — As  Mrs.  Chalmers  is  somewhat  taken 
up  with  the  children,  she  has  requested  me  to  answer  your 
very  kind  letter  to  her.     We  are  both  very  sensible,  and  have 
had  much  experience  of  the  charms  of  Blochairn,  and  have 
resolved,  with  much  gratitude,  to  avail  ourselves  of  your  kind 
♦  The  late  Vice-Chancellor,  Sir  James  Parker. 
F  2 


130  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

offer  of  its  accommodations.  The  only  condition  is,  that  Mrs. 
Rainy  shall  not  in  the  least  be  put  out  of  her  way  by  our  in- 
trusion, which  can  not,  however,  with  the  arrangements  which 
are  before  us,  last  longer  than  a  fortnight,  as  our  various  ex- 
cursions to  Fairley,  Mosshouse,  &c.,  will  take  up  the  great 
majority  of  our  time  in  the  west. 

We  had  very  great  pleasure  in  the  visit  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
with  Miss  Babington.  There  is  a  life  and  a  refreshment  in 
the  converse  of  religious  people,  of  which  we  here  stand  em- 
inently in  need.  Since  they  left  us,  we  have  been  much 
gratified  with  a  visit  from  Mr.  Thomas  Erskine,  author  of 
some  most  valuable  treatises,  and  a  truly  spiritual  as  well  as 
richly-gifted  intellectual  man.  He  regretted  having  missed 
the  society  of  the  venerable  Mr.  Babington,  to  whom,  by-the- 
way,  I  have  written  to  the  care  of  Mr.  Parker. 

Mr.  Erskine  sends  the  kindest  inquiries  after  Dr.  Rainy 
and  Mr.  R.  Brown,  whom  he  had  formerly  met  with  in  Glas- 
gow.    Yours  with  great  esteem  and  regard, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  XCVIII. 

Blochairn,  13th  September,  1825. 

My  dear  Madam — We  have  been  very  happy  here  in  the 
midst  of  great  quiet  and  of  the  most  unbounded  kindness. 
The  scheme  of  our  future  movements  is  somewhat  embarrass- 
ed by  a  public  sermon  which  I  have  to  preach  in  the  middle 
of  next  week  ;  and  I  find,  in  consequence,  that  it  will  answer 
best  for  us  to  come  down  to  Fairley  on  Monday,  the  3d  of  Oc- 
tober, being  Monday  fortnight.  But,  should  any  other  week 
be  more  convenient  for  you,  I  beg  that  you  will  mention  it. 

I  am  glad  to  understand  that  Mr.  Parker  is  so  much  bet- 
ter, and  that  Mr.  James  purposes  to  stay  with  you  till  the  10th 
of  October.  I  am  very  desirous  of  some  conversation  with 
him,  and  more  especially  since  I  understand  that  his  studies 
have  been  directed  to  Political  Economy. 

Mrs.  Chalmers  joins  me  in  kindest  compliments  to  you  and 


MRS.  PARKER.  131 


the  Misses  Parker.     Both  the  famihes  here  are  in  great  health 
and  enjoyment.     I  am,  my  dear  madam,  yours  very  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  XCIX. 

Glasgow,  3d  jiugust,  1826. 

My  dear  Madam — Your  very  kind  letter  I  received  yes-, 
terday. 

I  can  assure  you  that  it  is  with  no  ordinary  regret  that  I 
bereave  myself  of  your  society  during  this  excursion.  It  was 
my  firm  purpose  to  have  been  a  week  at  Fairley  ;  but  the 
composition  of  a  preface  for  Mr.  Russel's  *'  Sermons"  render- 
ed it,  in  the  first  instance,  necessary  that  I  should  be  in  the 
immediate  neighborhood  of  Glasgow,  and,  in  the  second  in- 
stance, desirable  that  I  should  have  the  command  of  six  en- 
tire days  for  study  in  the  week — an  advantage  which  I  be- 
hooved to  forfeit  by  the  steam-boat  passages  to  and  from  Fair- 
ley.  This  last  advantage  I  secure  at  Mountgreenan,  for  I 
drive  there  on  Tuesday  evening,  and  back  again  on  the  morn- 
ing of  the  Monday  after. 

What  I  desiderate  is  a  visit  to  the  west,  without  the  en- 
cumbrance of  any  duty  or  task  work,  when  I  should  enjoy  the 
society  of  my  friends  ;  and  I  do  sincerely  hope  that,  in  a  fu- 
ture summer,  I  shall  be  able  to  avail  myself  of  your  great 
kindness,  and  make  Fairley  the  head-quarters  of  a  little  tour 
along  the  Firth  of  Clyde,  which  I  have  not  yet  explored, 
along  its  coasts  and  through  its  islands. 

I  beg  my  kindest  regards  to  Mr.  Parker,  who,  I  trust,  will 
get  fast  well,  and  to  Miss  Parker.  I  go  to  Blochairn  to-mor- 
row.    I  am,  my  dear  madam,  yours  most  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  C. 

St.  Andrews,  19th  January,  1827. 
My  dear  Madam — It  at  all  times  gives  both  to  me  and  to 
Mrs.  Chalmers  the  utmost  refreshment  and  real  pleasure  to 


132  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

hear  from  yourself  and  your  family.  I  hope  that  the  imag- 
ination of  my  time  being  too  much  engrossed  for  a  correspond- 
ence that  Ave  feel  so  desirable,  will  not  diminish  either  the 
regularity  or  the  frequency  of  it.  The  truth  is,  that  my  time 
is  not  so  engrossed  here  as  it  was  in  Glasgow  ;  and,  besides, 
the  habit  into  which  I  have  got  of  setting  apart  an  hour  a 
day  to  letter-writing,  enables  me  to  overtake  all  the  duties 
which  in  this  way  are  laid  upon  me. 

I  am  much  interested  by  your  information  regarding  Mr. 
James.  I  saw  an  advertisement  the  other  day  of  a  work  on 
"  Political  Economy,"  by  a  member  of  the  University  of  Cam- 
bridge. Its  specific  subjects  were  those  that  we  had  very  fully 
discussed  on  my  last  interview  with  him  at  Blochairn  ;  and, 
Avhich  is  not  always  the  case,  we  agreed  in  our  sentiments. 
I  was  tempted  by  this  circumstance  to  conceive  that  he  might 
have  been  the  author.  I  am  sure  that  his  decided  Christi- 
anity would  prove  a  far  higher  gratification  to  you  than  his 
first-rate  talent ;  and  I  pray  that  your  anxieties  and  supplica- 
tions for  the  souls  of  your  relatives  might  bring  down  that  in- 
fluence M^hich  alone  can  convert  and  sanctify.  I  would  an- 
swer every  letter,  if  James  would  but  write  me.  I  am,  my 
dear  madam,  yours  with  greatest  esteem  and  regard, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CI. 

St.  Andrews,  18th  August,  1828 
My  dear  Madam — As  I  leave  Mrs.  Chalmers  to  fill  up  this 
letter,  I  have  just  room  to  say,  that  I  received  your  son's  valu- 
able present  of  Schleusner's  "  Lexicon."  I  am  quite  sensible 
that  the  best  ingredient  of  a  gift  is  the  disposition  which  it 
indicates  in  the  giver  ;  and  I  prize  very  highly  indeed  the 
friendly  regards  of  your  family  toward  me.  At  the  same 
time,  I  can  not  but  further  remark  on  the  great  worth  to  me 
of  the  particular  book  which  he  has  selected,  fitting  in  so  ex- 
actly as  it  does  with  my  present  professional  studies,  that,  from 
the  moment  of  its  arrival,  I  have  made,  and  will  continue  for 
gome  time  to  make,  daily  use  of  it. 


MRS.  PARKER.  133 


I  beg  my  kindest  regards  to  the  Misses  Parker,  and  Mr. 
James  and  Mr.  George.  May  you  have  great  comfort  in 
them  ;  and  may  the  afflictions  and  trials  of  earth  ripen  yon 
and  yours  for  heaven.  Believe  me,  my  dear  madam,  yours 
most  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CII. 

Edinburgh,  11th  November,  1828. 

My  dear  Madam — We  were  both  much  gratified  by  your 
letter.  A  notice  from  an  old  and  tried  friend  is  peculiarly 
welcome  to  those  who  have  the  feeling  of  being  strangers  in 
a  strange  land.  In  many  respects  I  have  made  a  great  per- 
sonal sacrifice  by  renouncing  the  comfort  and  ease  of  St. 
Andrews  ;  but  the  call  of  duty  appeared  quite  clear  and  im- 
perative. Mrs.  Chalmers  has  left  our  old  and  beautiful  house 
with  very  great  reluctance  ;  and  we  have  not  altogether  met 
with  very  reconciling  circumstances  since  our  arrival.  But 
we  are  in  the  best  hands,  and  all,  we  trust,  will  end  well. 

I  can  not  express  the  tenderness  that  is  felt  by  us  all,  and 
more  especially  by  myself,  for  the  various  members  of  your 
much-loved  family.  We  feel  it  a  great  alleviation  to  the 
sorrow  of  our  removal  from  St.  Andrews  that  we  are  so  much 
nearer  to  you.  May  the  God  of  all  comfort  and  grace  uphold 
you  in  the  midst  of  your  trials.  Anne  says  that  she  will  write 
to  your  Anne  soon.  Our  address  is  11  Argyle  Square.  I 
am,  my  dear  Mrs.  Parker,  yours  most  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  cm. 

Edinburgh,  30th  January,  1829. 

My  dear  Madam — I  gladly  avail  myself  of  the  opportunity 
by  Mr.  Smyth  to  offer  you  a  few  lines.  We  are  all  in  a  con- 
valescent state  now,  though  Mrs.  Chalmers  perhaps  feels  more 
overdone  than  she  did  when  her  labors  in  the  sick-room  were 
more  abundant. 

You  have  really  rendered  us  a  substantial  accommodation 


134  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

by  taking  Anne  from  us  in  our  state  of  danger  and  infection. 
It  was  a  great  relief  both  to  myself  and  Mrs.  Chalmers  her 
being  taken  out  of  the  way;  and  it  was  made  all  the  more 
complete  that  you  kindly  assured  us  of  her  presence  being  no 
inconvenience  to  yourself.  We  both  think  that  the  time  of 
her  return  to  us  should  be  now  drawing  near  ;  and  Mrs.  C. 
calculates  from  the  number  of  her  music  ticket  that  she 
should  be  with  us  by  the  12th  of  February. 

I  received  a  letter  full  of  cordiality  and  of  most  gratifying 
friendship  from  Mr.  Charles,  to  which  I  shall  reply  in  a  few 
days.  He  little  knows  the  value  that  I  set  upon  his  attach- 
ment ;  and  never,  in  fact,  did  I  feel  myself  so  blended  by  all 
the  ties  of  memory  and  of  the  heart  with  any  family. 

I  sincerely  hope  and  pray  that  the  impression  on  Grace's 
mind  may  prove  a  lasting  one,  and  form  the  anointing  that 
remaineth.  We  feel  not  enough  our  responsibility  for  the  souls 
of  our  children,  and  how  much  it  is  our  duty  to  pray,  and  to 
labor,  and  to  watch  for  them.  May  the  Giver  of  all  grace 
prepare  all  the  members  of  both  our  families  for  heaven.  He 
willeth  all  men  to  be  saved  ;  and  what  an  encouragement  to 
us  that  He  makes  this  the  express  ground  of  our  duty  to  in- 
tercede for  all. 

I  beg  my  kindest  regards  to  the  Misses  Parker,  Mr.  George, 
and  the  two  Annes,  in  which  all  here  join  ;  and  I  entreat  you 
to  believe  me,  my  dear  Mrs.  Parker,  yours  most  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CIV. 

KiRKALDY,  2ith  April,  1829. 
Dr.  Alexander  Chalmers  of  Kirkaldy  died  on  the  22d,  at 
half  past  one  in  the  morning. 

My  dear  Madam — The  interest  you  take  in  our  family  has 
determined  me  to  send  the  above  intimation,  though  I  believe 
you  did  not  know  my  brother.  He  was  a  mighty  favorite 
with  us  all ;  and,  meanwhile,  we  are  greatly  solemnized  by 


MRS.  PARKER.  135 


the  warning.  But  this  is  so  very  different  from  being  spiritu- 
alized by  it,  that  there  is  a  loud  call  for  prayer  and  persever- 
ing energy,  in  order  that,  instead  of  a  transient  emotion,  it  may 
ripen  into  a  practical  and  an  enduring  principle.  The  anoint- 
ing which  remaineth  can  alone  accomplish  this.  I  entreat 
you  to  believe  me,  yours  with  greatest  affection  and  esteem, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CV. 

Burntisland,  2Sth  September,  1830. 

My  dear  Madam — I  received  your  kind  letter  only  to-day, 
I  having  come  here  for  a  little  retirement,  and  that  I  might 
prosecute  the  work  of  my  preparations  at  leisure.  We  have 
long  heard  of  your  illness,  and  I  heartily  reproach  myself  for 
not  having  written  sooner.  I  can  truly  say  that  there  is  no 
individual  out  of  my  family  whose  acquaintance  I  am  so  glad 
to  retain  and  so  anxious  to  improve  with  the  closest  possible 
intimacy.  I  know  that  I  will  annoy  you  if  I  speak  of  grati- 
tude, though  that  is  a  feeling  which  does  and  which  ought  to 
burn  strongly  in  our  hearts.  But  you  will  at  least  permit  me 
to  speak  of  friendship,  and  under  its  impulse  it  is  my  fervent 
hope  and  prayer  that  you  may  be  speedily  restored  to  health, 
and  be  long  spared  a  comfort  to  us  all  and  a  blessing  to  your 
family. 

Health  may  fail,  but  the  hope  of  the  Gospel  will  not  fail 
you.  The  more  firmly  you  cherish  it,  the  more  surely  will 
all  its  objects  be  realized. 

I  go  to  London  myself  in  about  a  fortnight.  It  is  a  great 
annoyance  to  me,  but  I  am  under  a  kind  of  moral  compulsion 
to  take  the  journey. 

In  reference  to  your  application  for  a  sermon  in  behalf  of 
our  colonies,  it  would  be  quite  unfair  in  me  not  to  let  you 
know  how  the  matter  stands.  I  am  overborne  with  the 
work  of  my  own  proper  vocation,  and  I  really  can  not  en- 
gage for  any  other  work  but  at  the  expense  of  what  I  esteem 
a  higher  duty,  and  therefore  with  as  great  pain  to  my  con- 


136  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

science  as  to  my  convenience.     I  am,  my  dear  Mrs.  Parker, 
yours  most  affectionately,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CVI. 

Edinburgh,  1st  February,  1831. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Parker — I  have  alvv^ays  the  utmost  pleas- 
ure in  hearing  from  you,  and  should  be  sorry  to  let  any  oth- 
er beside  myself  reply  to  communications  that  I  so  highly 
value.  Your  letter  of  the  25th  of  January  has  greatly  re- 
lieved us  ;  for  when  I  was  in  Glasgow  a  month  ago,  I  had 
not  so  favorable  a  report  of  your  health  as  you  have  yourself 
sent  me.  May  the  God  and  Giver  of  all  mercies  perfect  your 
recovery,  and  enable  you  to  bear  up  under  the  inclemencies 
of  this  severe  winter.  To-day  we  have  a  perfect  tempest  of 
drifting  snow,  and  the  winter  may  be  said  to  have  fully  and 
fairly  set  in. 

Mrs.  Chalmers  has  relapsed  this  winter,  to  a  considerable 
degree,  into  her  wonted  delicacy  ;  and  when  I  think  of  her 
present  family  duties,  I  am  not  without  uneasiness.  But  let 
us  roll  over  all  our  anxieties  upon  God,  casting  our  burden  on 
Him,  and  He  will  sustain  it.  With  kindest  regards  to  both 
the  Misses  Parker,  in  which  all  here  join,  I  am,  my  dear  Mrs. 
Parker,  yours  most  affectionately, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CVII. 
Penicuick,  near  Edinburgh,  19^^  July,  1834. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Parker — I  write  by  my  children,  who,  1 
expect,  will  be  with  you  in  about  a  week.  I  am  much  in- 
terested in  Grace,  who,  1  think,  is  somewhat  more  impressed 
at  present  than  usual ;  and  I  should  rejoice  in  any  opportu- 
nity you  had  of  keeping  the  minds  of  either  of  them  alive  to 
the  great  matters  of  their  everlasting  concernment.  I  earn- 
estly wish,  in  behalf  of  us  both,  that  we  might  be  blessed 
with  the  high  privilege  of  a  thoroughly  Christianized  family. 

I  am  to  write  Mr.  Dow.     I  take  the  greatest  interest  in  his 


MRS.  PARKER.  137 


parochial  operations.  What  has  been  done  for  Fairley  is  quite 
beautiful,  and  will  tell,  I  think,  most  beneficially  in  the  way 
of  example.  I  hope  you  continue  to  have  great  comfort  in 
the  services  of  your  new  church. 

I  live  in  great  repose  here,  and  have  been  ordered  an  en- 
tire cessation  from  study,  which  I  am  strictly  observing.  I 
think  that  this  summer  will  determine  whether  or  not  my  con- 
stitution has  received  a  permanent  shock. 

Give  my  kindest  regards  to  Miss  Parker  and  to  Captain 
and  Mrs.  Darroch  when  you  see  them.  I  ever  am,  my  dear 
Mrs.  Parker,  yours  most  gratefully  and  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CVIII. 

Burntisland,  lAth  September,  1836 
My  dear  Mrs.  Parker — Nothing  but  circumstances  pre- 
vents me  from  availing  myself  of  your  kind  invitation,  the 
days  I  spend  at  Fairley  being  always  the  sunniest  and  most 
delightful  I  spend  any  where. 

I  beg  my  kindest  regards  to  Miss  Parker,  and  also  to  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  James,  if  still  with  you,  and  to  Captain  and  Mrs. 
Darroch.  It  is  truly  refreshing,  amid  the  storms  of  a  world 
that  lowers  hostility  and  menace  against  all  who  offend  it,  to 
turn  one's  thoughts  to  those  in  whose  friendship  and  kind  af- 
fections they  feel  the  most  perfect  confidence.  I  ever  am, 
my  dear  Mrs.  Parker,  yours  most  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CIX. 

Ardgowan.  27th  October,  1836. 
My  dear  Mrs.  Parker — I  can  not  say  it  was  oflicions,  but 
I  must  say  it  was  greatly  overkind  of  you  to  pay  the  noddy.  I 
am  never  happier  than  when  enjoying  your  hospitality  ;  but 
you  must  ever  allow  me  to  pay  my  way  to  and  from  your 
much-loved  abode. 

I  find  that  Sir  Michael  had,  after  all,  sent  a  carriage  for 


138  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

me  to  your  house,  which  I  regret  we  left  before  it  had  ar- 
rived. 

We  have  just  lunched — Mr.  Patrick  Stewart  is  one  of  the 
party.  I  like  the  Duke  of  Somerset  exceedingly — plain,  un- 
affected, and  very  intelligent.  Lord  James  Stewart  and  his 
lady  are  here,  whom  I  had  met  before  in  England.  These, 
with  the  Duchess  and  Dowager  Lady  Stewart,  make  up  all 
the  strangers,  so  that  I  do  not  feel  the  visit  to  be  so  cold  or 
formidable  as  I  had  apprehended  it  to  be. 

I  am  not  to  annoy  you  with  my  expressions  of  gratitude  ; 
but  I  must  be  permitted  to  say,  that  every  visit  to  Fairley  riv- 
ets more  closely  the  deep  affection  which  I  feel  for  you  and 
yours. 

May  the  providence  and  grace  of  our  All-kind  Father  be 
richly  experienced  by  you  all,  that,  after  a  life  of  discipline 
and  preparation  here,  we  may  all  meet  again  in  the  blissful 
realms  of  light  and  life  above. 

With  kindest  regards  to  Captain  and  Mrs.  Darroch,  I  ever 
am,  my  dear  madam,  yours  most  affectionately, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  ex. 

East  Kilbride,  2d  November;  1836. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Parker — I  received  this  day  your  most 
welcome  letter  ;  and  though  I  leave  the  greater  part  of  this 
sheet  to  be  filled  up  by  Margaret  (who  owes  you  much  for 
your  great  goodness  to  her),  I  can  not  give  it  over  to  her  with- 
out letting  you  know  how  much  I  felt  interested  at  Ardgow- 
an  by  the  decided  piety  of  Lady  Stewart,  and  the  promising 
dispositions  of  Sir  Michael.  Here,  too,  there  is  much  that 
claims  my  gratitude  in  the  palpable  usefulness  of  Mr.  H.,  in 
the  acceptance  he  meets  with  among  all  classes — the  kindness 
of  the  higher  ranks,  and  honest,  heartfelt  cordiality  of  the  gen- 
eral population. 

In  point  of  beauty  and  fertility,  it  is  a  far  better  parish  than 
I  expected  it  to  be  ;  and  the  manse,  now  building,  seems  a 


MRS.  PARKER.  139 


very  perfect  one.     Ever  believe  me,  my  dear  Mrs.  Parker, 
yours  most  affectionately,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CXI. 

Burntisland,  5th  September^  1837. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Parker — It  is  very  much  to  the  regret, 
both  of  Mrs.  Chalmers  and  myself,  that  our  engagements  have 
so  multiplied  upon  us  as  to  make  it  impossible  that  we  should 
visit  Fairley  this  season — the  place  of  all  others  in  which  it 
is  my  delight  to  live  and  to  luxuriate,  for  nowhere  do  we  en- 
joy more  of  kindness  within-doors,  and  more  of  beauty  all 
around  us. 

I  have  great  reason  to  be  thankful  that  Mrs.  Chalmers  en- 
joys so  much  better  health  this  season  than  she  has  done  for 
several  years.  It  is  of  mighty  advantage  to  her  that  we  now 
live  out  of  Edinburgh,  and,  between  Morningside  and  Burnt- 
island, I  trust  that,  through  the  blessing  of  God,  she  may  be 
long  spared  to  me. 

May  He,  who  is  the  Giver  of  all  that  is  necessary  both  to 
life  and  to  godliness,  shed  all  blessings,  spiritual  and  temporal, 
on  yourself  and  all  the  members  of  your  family.  Ever  be- 
lieve me,  my  dear  Mrs.  Parker,  yours  with  greatest  esteem 
and  regard,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CXII. 

London,  \5th  July,  1838. 
My  dear  Mrs.  Parker — I  should  have  written  you  long 
ago  ;  but  Mrs.  Chalmers's  repeated  illnesses  have  protracted 
our  stay  in  France,  and  so  prolonged  our  journey  homeward, 
that  I  have  waited  till  now  in  vain  ere  I  could  state,  with 
any  degree  of  certainty,  the  likelihood  of  our  future  move- 
ments. We  are  now  thus  far  on  our  way  to  Edinburgh,  and 
should  have  been  in  the  steamer  which  went  off  last  night 
but  for  another  relapse,  which  we  are  hopeful,  however,  will, 
through  God's  blessing,  allow  of  our  taking  the  next  opportu- 
nity by  sea,  which  is  on  Wednesday  evening,  taking  us  home 


140  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


on  Friday,  the  20th,  from  which  day  I  am  quite  at  your  dis- 


May  I  therefore  beg  that  you  will  write  me  at  Edinburgh 
on  receipt  of  this,  and  tell  me  the  day  that  you  have  fixed 
upon,  when  I  shall  hold  myself  in  readiness  to  leave  home 
two  days  before  it.  I  quite  lay  my  account  with  the  possi- 
bility that,  in  consequence  of  my  delay,  you  may  have  made 
another  arrangement.  This  would  deprive  me  of  the  grati- 
fication of  seeing  Miss  Parker  before  her  change  of  state,  but 
not  of  visiting  Fairley,  as  I  am  engaged  to  visit  Sir  Andrew 
Agnew  as  soon  as  possible  after  the  1st  of  August,  and  I  could 
not  do  better  than  take  Fairley  in  my  way.  I  do  hope  that 
these  unlooked-for  postponements  on  my  part  have  not  em- 
barrassed you.  A  few  days  at  home  would  certainly  be  con- 
venient ;  but,  to  make  it  possible  for  me  to  move  any  day  you 
may  choose  to  name,  I  have  sent  some  commissions  forward 
to  Edinburgh  by  post. 

I  feel  the  greatest  possible  interest  in  you  and  yours,  though 
I  have  not  had  the  opportunity  of  expressing  all  my  sympa- 
thies on  the  late  melancholy  event  in  the  history  of  your  be- 
reaved household.*  May  these  affecting  changes  teach  us  to 
sit  loose  to  a  world  that  will  soon  pass  away  from  us,  and  to 
seek  our  portion  in  Him  who  is  the  same  to-day,  yesterday, 
and  forever.  Ever  believe  me,  my  dear  Mrs.  Parker,  yours 
most  affectionately,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CXIII. 

Edinburgh,  5th  November,  1838. 
My  very  dear  Mrs.  Parker — I  can  not,  now  that  Mar- 
garet is  on  the  eve  of  returning  to  us,  refrain  from  pouring 
forth  the  feelings  of  a  most  cordial  and  affectionate  gratitude 
for  all  the  goodness  that  we  have  reached  at  your  hands;  and 
it  is  my  prayer  and  my  trust  that  the  friendship  begun  here, 
and  the  fruits  of  which  we  have  so  richly  experienced,  may 
at  length  be  transplanted  and  take  root  in  Heaven,  where 
*  The  death  of  Mrs.  Parker's  youngest  son. 


MRS.  PARKER. 


141 


may  it  be  God's  blessed  will  that  the  two  families  shall  meet 
in  full  company  together,  and  partake  in  the  services  and  the 
joys  of  a  blissful  eternity. 

Anne  and  the  baby  are  with  us.  He,  I  do  fear,  is  in  a  veiy 
precarious  state,  though  somewhat  better  to-day.  Mr.  Hanna 
is  at  Belfast  ;  and  we  have  just  heard  from  him  of  the  death 
of  his  younger  brother,  John — the  last  son  but  himself,  and  a 
sad  blow,  in  which  you,  my  dear  madam,  will  know  fully  to 
sympathize  with  both  the  parents.  I  ever  am,  my  dear  mad- 
am, yours  most  affectionately,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CXIV. 

Edinburgh,  Ist  June^  1839. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Parker — I  should  long  ere  now  have  com- 
municated the  intended  marriage  of  Eliza  with  Mr.  M'Ken- 
zie,  the  minister  of  Dunkeld.  I  have  long  felt  that  ours  is 
more  a  family  relationship  than  an  ordinary  friendship,  and 
nothing  but  the  extreme  pressure  of  employment  would  have 
prevented  an  earlier  notice  of  this  arrangement.  It  is  pro- 
posed that  the  marriage  shall  take  place  in  August. 

I  feel  somewhat  languid  and  overdone  after  the  fatigues  of 
the  Assembly.  If  God  be  pleased  to  spare  me,  there  are  few 
things  which  I  should  like  better  on  this  side  of  death  than 
an  evening  of  life  spent  in  complete  retirement  from  all  pub- 
lic business,  and  devoted  to  the  enjoyment  and  converse  of 
those  Christian  friends  w^ho  are  looking  heavenward.  Let 
us  hope  and  pray  that  all  our  present  divisions  may  be  over- 
ruled for  the  good  of  the  Church  and  the  glory  of  the  Re- 
deemer. 

Mrs.  Chalmers  is  at  present  in  tolerable  health,  and  all 
unite  in  most  affectionate  remembrances  and  wishes  to  you 
and  yours.     I  am,  my  dear  madam,  yours  very  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 


142  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


No.  CXV. 

Balblair  Cottage,  23d  August^  1839. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Parker — I  can  not  resist  my  inclination  to 
tell  you  how  much  I  have  been  gratified  by  my  visit  to  the 
land  of  your  nativity.  I  have  been  two  nights  here  in  a  sum- 
mer cottage  of  Mr.  Dempster's  of  Skibo,  now  looking  on  the 
scenes  of  your  infancy,  and  greatly  dehghted  with  the  beau- 
ties of  the  neighborhood.  Yesterday  I  went  down  to  Dor- 
noch, and  on  my  way  visited  the  Manse  of  Criech,  determined 
to  make  myself  personally  acquainted  with  the  localities  of 
your  birth-place.  The  old  gentleman  was  at  family  worship  ; 
but  we  were  conducted  to  the  west  room  up  stairs,  whence  1 
looked  down  upon  the  church  with  the  old  burial-place  to 
the  east  of  it,  and  from  the  gable  window  on  the  church  of 
Kincardine,  and  the  mountain  barrier  with  Ducairn  Brae  and 
the  hills  of  Strathcairn  beyond  it.  We  took  a  hurried  leave 
of  the  old  gentleman.  I  was  delighted  with  the  beauty  of 
the  ride  all  the  way  to  Dornoch,  which  looked  in  its  greatest 
perfection  on  a  glorious  sunshine  day  with  its  tide  full.  I 
can  not  imagine  a  finer  feature  than  the  Dun  of  Criech,  and 
the  exquisite  little  bay  behind,  and  on  the  east  side  of  it. 
Nothing  could  exceed  the  blandness  and  cordiality  of  our 
reception  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Kennedy  ;  when,  besides  his  son 
George,  we  found  Mr.  and  Mrs.  M'Pherson  of  Golspie,  with 
their  two  daughters,  Mr.  M'Kenzie  of  Rogart,  Mr.  Campbell 
of  Kildrum,  and  Mr.  M'Kay  of  Clyne.  I  had  a  meeting  in  the 
Cathedral  of  about  300,  and  was  honored  by  the  presence  of 
Mr.  Gunn  and  other  grandees  of  the  district.  Mr.  Dempster 
of  Skibo  was  along  with  us ;  and  we  had  a  very  pleasant  din- 
ner-party of  twenty-two  in  the  inn  afterward.  The  Cathedral 
is  a  very  interesting  relic,  now  completely  renovated  and  re- 
stored, of  the  olden  time. 

Will  you  tell  Dr.  Rainy  that  far  the  most  interesting  geo- 
graphical acquisition  I  have  made  was  from  a  hill  behind  Bal- 
blair Cottage,  whence  I  could  see  in  greatest  possible  beauty, 


MRS.  PARKER.  143 


and  through  a  clear  atmosphere,  the  abrupt  and  precipitous 
outline  of  the  hills  in  Lochbroom,  Benmore,  Assynt  ;  the  hills 
of  Edderachilhs ;  Benhope,  which  sends  its  waters  to  the  Pent- 
land  Firth  ;  Benklibreck,  in  the  very  centre  of  Sutherland ; 
and  the  end  of  Loch  Shin  ;  and  the  beautiful  Vale  of  theOykel. 

Since  beginning  this  letter  I  have  been  with  General  Munro 
of  Teaninich,  to  Cromarty,  Fortrose,  Avoch-house,  and  Rox- 
haugh,  in  which  places  I  renewed  my  acquaintance  with  the 
two  Ladies  Mackenzie,  the  latter  of  whom  I  had  not  seen  for 
thirty-eight  years.  I  am  now  at  Rosskeen  with  Mr.  Gar- 
ment, and  am  going  forward  to  Dingwall  and  Inverness. 

May  the  God  of  all  grace  bless  and  sanctify  us  and  ours  ; 
and,  with  my  best  regards  to  Mrs.  Cardwell,  who  I  rejoice  to 
hear  from  Mr.  George  is  better,  I  ever  am,  my  dear  Mrs. 
Parker,  yours  most  affectionately,         Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CXVL 

Edinburgh,  31  st  January,  1840. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Parker — I  am  always  delighted  to  hear 
from  you,  and  only  regret  that  the  amount  of  other  correspond- 
ence not  so  welcome  or  agreeable,  should  preclude  my  writing 
you  so  frequently  as  I  could  wish.  Mr.  Cochrane,  our  secre- 
tary, would  reply  to  your  letter  in  behalf  of  a  new  extension 
church,  for  which  we  shall  most  cheerfully  do  all  we  can.  It 
is  altogether  a  fit  object  for  our  largest  possible  aid  ;  and  I  only 
regret  that  the  unfortunate  juxtaposition  of  another  question 
now  agitating  the  country,  and  menacing  the  Church,  is  for 
the  present  keeping  our  cause  at  abeyance,  insomuch  that 
our  Supplementary  Fund,  which  should  by  this  time  have 
reached  £100,000,  does  not  exceed  £40,000 — enabling  us  to 
allow,  as  yet,  only  £400  for  each  of  the  next  hundred  church- 
es :  I  trust,  however,  that  times  will  improve. 

With  best  regards  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  James  Parker,  and  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Cardwell,  and  earnest  prayers  for  the  spiritual  well- 
being  of  all  who  are  near  and  dear  to  us,  ever  believe  me, 
my  dear  Mrs.  Parker,  yours  most  affectionately, 

THoriA«i  Chal'ters. 


144  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


No.  CXVII. 

28th  April,  1840. 
My  dear  Mrs.  Parker — I  most  sincerely  hope  that  you 
will  accede  to  our  joint  request.  There  is  nothing  I  would 
more  enjoy  than  a  few  quiet  weeks  in  secluded  intercourse 
with  yourself,  an  opportunity  we  may  never  else  have  on  this 
side  of  that  death  which  is  coming  nearer  to  us  every  day, 
and  which  I  pray  may  not  find  us  unprepared  for  the  great 
and  solemn  change.  I  ever  am,  my  dear  madam,  yours  most 
affectionately,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CXVIII. 

Burntisland,  29^^  September,  1841. 
My  dear  Mrs.  Parker — We  have  heard  with  great  in- 
terest of  your  brief  visit  to  Dunkeld,  and  are  delighted  when 
circumstances  prevent  that  more  direct  and  personal  inter- 
course in  which  I  always  have  the  greatest  pleasure,  if  I  can 
even  hold  converse  with  you  through  the  medium  of  any  of 
my  family.  But  this  is  not  enough  to  satisfy  the  demands 
of  my  heart  for  a  more  frequent  association  with  the  best  and 
truest  of  my  friends ;  and  as  I  am  really  not  able  to  come  West 
this  season,  I  have  most  earnestly  to  beg — and  in  this  I  am 
joined  with  equal  earnestness  by  Mrs.  Chalmers— that  you 
will  manage  to  spend  as  much  time  with  us  as  you  can  this 
winter.  We  leave  this  for  Edinburgh  on  the  9th  of  October, 
and  have  no  other  prospect  than  that  of  being  constantly  at 
our  home  there  till  April.  You  will  find  us  very  domestic 
and  very  quiet,  as  your  nieces,  the  Misses  Brown,  can  attest, 
whose  visit  last  winter  gave  us  so  much  pleasure.  We  do 
hope,  therefore,  that  no  obstacle  will  stand  in  the  way  of  an 
arrangement  which  would  afford  so  much  real  delight  to 
our  family.  We  can  promise  you  all  the  repose  and  inde- 
pendence that  you  require  ;  and  feel  assured  that,  with  the 
blessing  of  God  upon  our  intercourse,  your  visit  might  be  pro- 
ductive of  great  profit  as  well  as  comfort  to  us  all.     Let  me 


MRS.  PARKER.  145 


entreat,  therefore,  that  you  will  entertain  the  proposal.  We 
shall  leave  you  to  name  your  own  time,  our  only  desire  being 
that  you  will  not  make  your  visit  a  short  one. 

With  the  kindest  regards  of  us  all,  ever  believe  me,  my  very 
dear  madam,  yours  most  affectionately, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CXIX. 

Edinburgh,  1th  January^  1842. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Parker — It  is  a  great  disappointment  to 
us  all  that  we  are  not  to  have  the  pleasure  of  a  visit  from  you 
this  winter,  and  we  very  much  regret  the  cause  of  it. 

It  is  my  earnest  prayer  that  the  same  Providence  which 
has  hitherto  watched  over  you,  may  still  preserve  and  prolong 
your  days  in  the  midst  of  us,  and  that,  under  God's  blessed 
will,  we  may  still  have  much  intercourse  in  this  world. 

The  state  and  prospects  of  the  Church  are  well  fitted  to 
loosen  our  attachment  to  all  that  is  earthly.  The  issues  of  our 
present  contest  are  as  uncertain  as  ever ;  and  I  can  well  see 
a  fixed  purpose  on  the  part  both  of  government  and  of  the 
higher  classes  to  flood  our  Church  with  Moderatism.  It  is 
difficult  as  yet  to  say  what  the  friends  of  a  pure  and  scriptu- 
ral Christianity  ought  to  do  ;  but  I  trust  and  pray  that  they 
might  be  ready  for  a  sacrifice  rather  than  give  up  their  prin- 
ciples, or  surrender  the  religious  good  of  the  people  of  these 
lands.  Let  us  hope  that  our  way  will  be  made  clear  before 
us  ;  and,  meanwhile,  it  is  well  to  be  still,  and  know  that  the 
Lord  reigneth. 

With  best  regards  to  Captain  and  Mrs.  Darroch,  General 
Darroch,  and  Mr.  Rainy,  I  ever  am,  my  dear  madam,  yours 
very  truly,  -  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CXX. 

Edinburgh,  30^A  December^  1842. 
My  dear  Mrs.  Parker — I  expect  very  shortly  to  present 
you  with  my  views  on  the  subject  of  your  much-esteemed  let- 


146  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

ter.  Meanwhile  I  inclose  a  specimen  of  what  we  are  doing,* 
and  what  1  believe  might  be  done  in  every  parish,  were  it  not 
for  the  indolence  or  the  fears  of  those  who  have  the  natural 
influence  over  its  people,  and  whose  part  it  is  to  take  the 
charge  of  them.  With  but  a  zealous  and  intelligent  agency, 
I  never  found  any  failure  on  the  part  of  the  humbler  classes. 

Our  collectors  met  yesternight  for  the  first  time,  and  the 
united  contributions  amount  to  the  rate  of  more  than  £300 
in  the  year — a  proportion  to  the  number  of  our  people  which, 
if  carried  over  the  whole  of  Scotland,  would  yield  half  a  mill- 
ion annually. 

May  I  beg  that  you  will  let  our  friend  at  Gourock  know 
that  the  Sabbatical  question  of  which  she  wrote  you  I  have 
treated  in  a  sermon,  to  be  found  in  vol.  ix.  of  the  series  of  my 
Works. 

I  have  a  most  delightful  recollection  of  my  last  visit  to  you. 
May  the  Giver  of  all  grace  pour  His  best  blessings  on  you  and 
yours.  Our  family  are  at  present  in  their  usual  health,  and 
unite  with  me  in  warmest  regards.  I  beg  to  be  cordially  re- 
membered to  Miss  Hutchison,  Captain  and  Mrs.  Hay,  and 
Miss  M'Call.  I  ever  am,  my  dear  Mrs.  Parker,  yours  with 
the  greatest  affection,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CXXI. 

Edinburgh,  lith  January,  1843. 
My  dear  Mrs.  Parker — I  received  your  truly  munificent 
proposal  some  days  ago,  but  I  have  not  yet  reported  it  to  the 
treasurer  of  the  Provisional  Fund,  as  I  think  it  possible  that 
you  may,  perhaps,  on  reflection,  prefer  sending  what  you  have 
to  give  through  the  medium  of  a  Fairley  Association,  should 
such  be  formed.  My  reason  for  at  least  offering  this  sugges- 
tion is,  that  here,  in  Morningside,  the  large  and  small  sub- 
scribers have  joined  their  contributions  in  this  way,  and  with 
great  good  effect  in  the  way  of  example  on  our  little  parochial 
community  here.  But,  though  I  submit  this  alternative  to 
*  Inclosed  was  a  tract,  "What  should  the  People  do?" 


MRS.  DARROCH.  147 


you,  I,  of  course,  will  most  gladly  abide  by  whatever  decision 
you  may  think  it  right  to  adopt. 

I  inclose  an  address  which  I  am  now  distributing  among 
my  friends.  Sir  James  Graham's  letter  is  convincing  many 
that  instant  efforts  must  now  be  made  to  raise  funds — that, 
in  fact,  the  crisis  has  already  arrived,  or,  at  least,  that  all 
should  now  act  as  if  it  had. 

May  the  wisdom  that  is  from  above  animate  and  direct 
our  Church  on  the  present  eventful  occasion.  Ever  believe 
me,  my  very  dear  madam,  yours  most  affectionately, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 


LETTERS  TO  MRS.  DARROCH.* 

No.  CXXII. 

Edinburgh,  4th  February,  1844. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Darroch — I  wrote  Mrs.  Cardwell  last  Sab- 
bath, and  imagine  that  she  must  now  have  left  for  England. 
A  week  has  since  intervened,  but  it  makes  no  difference  in 
the  feeling,  which  will  long  remain  with  me,  of  the  great 
and  yet  recent  calamity  wherewith  we  have  all  been  visited. 
The  sense  of  recency  will  subside,  but  never  on  this  side  of 
death  the  sense  of  a  very  great  and  mournful  bereavement. 
Such  a  friendship,  so  steadfast  and  so  exuberant  of  all  that 
was  kind,  and  beneficent,  and  generous  to  me  and  mine,  I 
never  expect  to  be  replaced  in  this  world. 

I  wonder  that  people  should  make  a  question  of  our  know- 
ing each  other,  and  having  the  Christian  attachments  of  the 
present  life  renewed  and  perpetuated  in  a  future  state.  The 
passage  in  1  Thess.,  iv.,  13-18,  leaves  no  doubt  in  my  mind 
on  this  subject — a  passage  given  to  us  for  the  express  purpose 
of  mitigating  our  sorrow  because  of  those  who,  like  your  dear 
and  sainted  mother,  have  fallen  asleep  in  Jesus.  The  proper 
and  the  obviously  intended  comfort  here  presented  to  us  is, 
that  we,  their  followers  in  the  same  faith  and  hope,  shall  be 
*  Mrs.  Parker's  eldest  daughter. 


148  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

ever  with  the  Lord,  and  therefore  ever  with  them  also.  And 
then  as  to  the  idea  that  all  special  affections  will  be  lost  in  a 
general  and  equal  charity  for  all  alike,  we  should  ever  recol- 
lect that  our  Savior  on  earth  exemplified  a  more  intense 
friendship  for  some  than  for  others,  as  in  the  case  of  John, 
who  is  signalized  among  all  the  other  disciples  as  the  one 
whom  Jesus  loved.  Now,  the  very  character  He  had  on 
earth  He  has  borne  up  with  Him  to  heaven,  and  Ave,  if  like 
unto  Him,  may  indulge  the  very  preferences  and  special  hk- 
ings  which  He  did.  And  on  these  grounds  I  do  cherish  the 
hope,  that  not  only  will  I  know,  and  recognize,  and  renew  my 
acquaintance  with  her  in  heaven,  but  that  I  will  continue 
there  to  be  on  the  same  cordial,  and  intimate  and  affectionate 
footing  with  her  which  has  subsisted  here  for  the  long  period 
of  nearly  thirty  years,  and  that  without  a  flaw. 

The  comforts  of  religion  are  the  only  comforts  w^hich  should 
be  urged  on  such  occasions,  for  they  are,  indeed,  the  only  com- 
forts which  avail  us.  Could  we  have  but  a  realizing  sense  of 
that  secure  and  blissful  place  where  are  the  spirits  of  the  just 
made  perfect,  it  would  greatly  soften  and  alleviate  the  trial 
which  now  lies  upon  you.  And  it  would  do  more  than  con- 
sole :  it  would  help  to  transfer  and  to  elevate  our  affections 
from  earth  to  heaven.  Never,  I  believe,  had  a  family  greater 
cause  for  rejoicing,  even  under  the  weight  of  this  heavy  be- 
reavement, than  the  children,  and  relatives,  and  friends  of 
her  who  has  now  left  us  for  a  season,  but  whom  we  shall 
meet  again,  if  but  followers  of  them  who  through  faith  and 
patience  are  now  inheriting  the  promises. 

Every  such  dispensation  should  have  the  effect  of  keeping 
us  closer  by  the  Savior.  What  a  privilege  it  is  that  we  have 
free  access  to  God  through  Him,  and  to  God  in  the  endear- 
ing character  of  a  Father  reconciled  to  His  strayed  children, 
and  rejoicing  over  them  to  do  them  good.  He  found?  an  ar- 
gument on  the  kindness  of  our  earthly  parents  which  ]  think 
should  tell  with  immense  power  upon  you  in  your  present 
circumstances.    You  can  not  fail  to  recollect — they  will  come 


MRS.  DARROCH.  149 


to  your  memory  with  a  touching  and  tender  impression  that 
might  well-nigh  overwhelm  your  feelings — all  the  goodness 
you  have  experienced  at  the  hands  of  your  earthly  parents, 
their  longing  earnestness  for  your  well-being,  their  efibrts,  and 
attentions,  and  sacrifices  to  make  you  happy.  It  is  on  these 
sure  premises  that  the  argument  of  our  blessed  Savior  must 
come  to  your  heart  with  resistless  demonstration — "  If  ye 
that  are  earthly  parents  know  how  to  give  good  gifts  unto 
your  children,  how  much  more  shall  your  Father  in  heaven 
give  good  things  to  those  who  ask  Him  ?  Ask,  and  ye  shall 
receive  ;  seek,  and  ye  shall  find  ;  knock,  and  the  door  shall 
be  opened  unto  you." 

My  kindest  sympathies  and  regards  to  Major  Darroch  and 
to  the  general,  whom  I  love  ;  and  believe  me,  my  very  dear 
Mrs.  Darroch,  yours  with  sincerest  affection, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CXXIII. 

Edinburgh,  Morningside,  2d  February,  1845. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Darroch — How  the  visions  of  the  past 
flit  on  my  remembrance  while  writing  to  you.  It  is  a  mat- 
ter of  very  great  thankfulness  in  regard  to  your  brother  that 
an  outgoing  has  at  length  been  opened  for  him.  But  when 
one  thinks  of  the  shortlivedness  of  all  that  is  earthly,  and 
looks  back  on  the  days  both  of  Blochairn  and  Fairley  as  now 
to  be  numbered  with  the  times  before  the  Flood,  it  makes  us 
sit  loose  to  the  prospects  of  this  world,  and  to  acquiesce  in 
the  sentiment  of  the  poet,  that  there  is  nothing  bright  but 
Heaven  ;  or,  rather,  to  present  it  in  a  more  authentic  form, 
that  the  fashion  of  this  world  passeth  away,  but  that  He  who 
made  the  world  endureth  fqrever. 

I  most  thoroughly  sympathize  with  feelings  so  naturally 
awakened,  and  so  touchingly  expressed  on  the  occasion  of 
this  sorrowful  yet  sacred  anniversary.  It  is  good  to  recall 
the  memory  of  the  righteous,  for  it  is  a  memory  which  is 
blessed. 


150  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

I  have  not  seen  Winslow's  work,  but  I  am  reading  with 
the  greatest  interest  our  old  friend  E.  B.  Elliott's  work  on  the 
Revelation.  I  will  do  him  the  justice  to  say  that  I  think  it 
far  the  completest  and  most  satisfactory  exposition  of  the 
prophecy  which  I  have  read,  though  he  does  our  Free  Church 
the  very  grossest  injustice  by  his  rash  and  most  ignorant  de- 
liverance upon  our  question. 

Do  give  my  best  regards  to  Mrs.  Card  well  when  you  write 
to  her.  Ever  believe  me,  my  dear  Mrs.  Darroch,  yours  most 
affectionately,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CXXIV. 

Fairlky,  15th  June,  1845. 
My  very  dear  Mrs.  Darroch — I  have  been  here  for  several 
days,  and  much  both  in  the  house  and  grounds,  which  are  so 
familiar  to  me.  I  never  felt  such  an  experimental  impression 
of  the  precariousness  of  all  things  here  below  as  now,  when 
the  scene  of  my  brightest  recollections  is  so  transformed  by 
the  disappearance  of  her  who  gave  its  chief  interest  to  the 
village  and  neighborhood,  and  to  all  their  society.  Yet  I 
can  not  say  how  thankful  I  am  that  I  am  so  kindly,  nay,  ur- 
gently entreated  to  make  as  much  a  home  of  the  house  as 
possible.  Our  head-quarters  are  with  Miss  M'Call,  but  my 
forenoon  study  is  your  dear  mother's  bed-room  ;  and  I  can 
evidently  see  that  both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  George  are  disappointed 
if  I  do  not  follow  it  up  by  dining  with  them,  which  I>am  all 
the  more  inclined  to  do,  that  it  gives  me  the  opportunity  of 
talking  and  taking  an  afternoon  round  with  them.  I  rejoice 
to  tind  that  he  is  obviously  progressing  in  health  and  strength, 
though  1  think  he  is  perhaps  inclined  to  exert  himself  too 
much,  and  not  to  make  a  sufficient  use  of  his  sofa.  You  may 
well  believe  that  the  well-known  relics  and  memorials  of 
other  days  inspire  a  pensiveness  which  is  melancholy  no  doubt, 
but  still  which  I  love  to  indulge  in.  Let  me  die  her  death, 
that  I  may  share  in  her  blessed  resurrection. 

Wc  remain  here  till  Wednesday  the  25th,  or  other  ten  days. 


MRS.  DARROCH.  151 


We  thence  go  in  a  body  to  Arran,  and  are,  besides,  engaged  to 
spend  some  time  at  Tillichewan.  I  think  it  better  to  trans- 
port my  family  by  one  movement  from  Arran  to  Tillichewan; 
either  during  my  visit  there,  or  at  the  termination  of  it,  I  must 
spend  some  tirne,  though  it  should  only  be  one  day,  at  Gou- 
rock.  I  know  not  how  it  is  with  younger  people,  but  I  confess 
that  the  twenty-eight  years  of  converse  and  correspondence 
with  you  and  yours  have  established  in  my  heart  a  most  in- 
tense and  steadfast  feeling  of  relationship  to  you  all.  Give 
my  best  regards  to  Major  Darroch,  and  to  the  general,  whom 
I  love.  I  am  reading  to-day  a  book  which  I  am  sure  would 
have  been  rich  and  precious  as  marrow  to  the  dear  and  de- 
parted saint  who  is  now  in  Heaven,  "Owen  on  the  Glory  of 
Christ."  He  died  at  sixty-seven,*"  and  it  is  his  last  work — 
the  w^ork  of  one  who  writes  as  on  the  borders  of  eternity.  I 
am  only  two  years  behind  him,  and  four  years  behind  what 
her  age  was  when,  seventeen  months  ago,  she  entered  into 
rest.  I  am,  my  dearest  Mrs.  Darroch,  yours  very  afiection- 
ately  and  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

Monday  morning. 

Since  writing  the  three  last  pages,  I  called  on  your  brother 
yesterday  evening  (Sunday).  He  asked  me  to  conduct  fam- 
ily worship,  which  brought  to  me  the  vivid  and  affecting 
recollection  of  similar  occasions.  The  identical  form  was 
brought  in,  and  the  identical  man-servant  sat  on  it,  along 
with  four  maid-servants.  These  things  tell  powerfully  on  my 
memory,  as  do  the  pictures  in  the  dining-room,  and  the  paper 
in  the  drawing-room,  I  am  glad  I  have  come  here  ;  and 
what  makes  it  all  the  more  satisfactory  is,  that  I  am  on  such 
pleasant  and  kind  terms  vi4th  your  brother,  w4io  begs  that, 
over  and  above  my  study  and  my  dinner,  I  should  also  take 
my  siesta  in  his  house. 

I  have  not  yet  thanked  you  for  the  great  enjoyments  which 
ray  family  had  in  Gourock  House,  and  more  especially  my 
little  grandson.  T.  G. 

*  The  aire  at  which  Dr.  Chalmers  also  died. 


152  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


No.  CXXV. 

WisHAW,  29th  July,  1845. 
My  very  dear  Mrs.  Darroch — We  arrived  here  to-day, 
at  twelve,  by  the  railway.  Nothing  could  exceed  the  kind- 
ness of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Tennant,  with  whom  we  spent  a  very 
pleasant  evening,  and  had  a  very  delightful — and  to  me  all  the 
more  so  that  it  was  a  small — party,  consisting  of  themselves 
along  with  Drs.  Forbes  and  Rainy,  both  of  whom  I  hold  in 
high  estimation. 

I  am  at  present  with  my  brother  here,  and  expect,  if  God 
will,  to  reach  home  on  Thursday. 

This  excursion  to  the  West  has  given  me  a  higher  opinion 
than  I  ever  had  before  of  the  Christian  worth  and  friendship 
which  we  have  so  abundantly  experienced  in  the  various 
quarters  that  we  have  visited.  And  certainly  there  is  no 
place  which  stands  dearer  to  all  my  recollections  and  regards 
than  Gourock.  I  love  the  general,  and  my  next  letter  will 
be  addressed  to  himself  some  time  next  week,  I  hope.  May 
the  Spirit  work  eflectually  in  him  and  in  all  of  us.  I  shall 
never  forget  those  words  of  death-bed  experience  and  mani- 
festation uttered  by  her  who  has  gone  before  him,  and  which 
read  so  impressively  upon  her  tombstone — "  Let  me  die  the 
death  of  the  righteous,  let  my  latter  end  be  hke  theirs." 

It  was  proposing  a  great  deal  too  much  that  I  should  take 
east  with  me  the  precious  MS.  which  you  had  intrusted  to 
my  keeping  for  a  few  weeks.  I  had  looked  it  all  over,  but 
had  not  read  it  all  thoroughly.  I  hope,  however,  that  my 
next  visit  will  be  one  of  greater  quietness  than  I  was  permit- 
ted to  enjoy  in  any  other  house  than  your  own.  It  were  alto- 
gether delicious  to  read  with  you  within  doors  the  sentences 
that  flowed  from  the  pen  and  were  dictated  from  the  earnest 
heart  of  her  who  is  now  enshrined  in  blessedness  and  glory 
among  the  spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect.  Oh  that,  like  her, 
1  could  live  a  life  of  faith  on  the  Son  of  God,  and  then  should 
I  live  a  hfe  both  of  love  and  of  holiness.     May  the  Giver  of 


MRS.  DARROCH.  i53 


all  grace  sanctify  and  elevate  my  affections,  and  save  me  from 
all  those  evil  influences  which  war  against  the  soul.  I  ever 
am,  my  dearest  madam,  yours  with  the  greatest  affection, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CXXVI. 

MoNZiE,  13^;?.  August,  1845. 

My  very  dear  Mrs.  Darroch — You  must  not  forbid  my 
writing  to  you,  for  I  have  great  pleasure  in  keeping  up  a  cor- 
respondence that  originated  in  the  most  precious  recollections 
of  other  days,  and  is  fitted  to  perpetuate  and  to  foster  them. 

I  omitted  to  leave  the  inclosed  with  you  (copy  of  a  mar- 
riage service),  having  reserved  to  myself  a  short-hand  copy 
of  it,  which  I  shall  put  in  the  portfolio  of  dear  Mrs.  Parker, 
along  with  the  precious  death-bed  sayings  of  Mrs.  General 
Darroch.  The  blank  paper  which  you  have  left  me  of  that 
truly  valuable  record  can  just  accommodate  in  short-hand  the 
other  record,  which  I  have  only  read  this  day  for  the  first  time 
since  I  uttered  it  in  the  drawing-room  at  Fairley.  I  am  glad 
to  observe  that  there  is  no  want  of  keeping  between  them, 
and  that  on  that  occasion  I  spoke  in  the  degree  I  did  of  the 
coming  death  and  the  coming  eternity. 

Have  the  goodness  to  tell  Mr.  East=^  how  thankful  I  am  for 
his  work,  wnth  which  I  hope  to  make  myself  acquainted  soon. 
It  will  give  me  the  greatest  pleasure  to  see  him  on  his  way 
through  Edinburgh.  When  I  am  at  home,  his  best  chance 
for  seeing  me  is  at  nine  to  breakfast.  I  fear,  however,  that 
I  shall  be  a  good  deal  from  home  all  this  month,  and  also  part 
of  the  next.  I  am  to  make  a  point,  however,  of  remaining  at 
home  afterward  for  many  months.  Believe  me,  my  very  dear 
Mrs.  Darroch,  yours  most  sincerely,       Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CXXVII. 

Edinburgh,  5th  February,  1847. 
My  very  dear  Mrs.  Darroch — This  is  very,  very  sad.     I 
*  The  Rev.  Timothy  East,  of  Birmingham. 
G  2 


154  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

like  the  general,  and  always  liked  him  ;  nor  am  I  at  all  sur- 
prised when  you  tell  me  of  the  manner  in  which  he  is  afiect- 
ed  by  your  utterance  of  Bible  texts.  It  is  quite  in  keeping 
with  the  way  in  which  he  was  moved  at  family  worship  on 
my  last  visit  to  Gourock  House.  May  God,  by  His  Spirit, 
though  in  His  own  mysterious  way,  bring  home  that  truth  to 
his  mind,  the  knowledge  of  which  is  life  everlasting. 

Perhaps  he  will  recollect  my  name,  and  if  he  do,  I  should 
like  my  message  to  him  to  consist  of  the  following  verses, 
which  might  be  read  to  my  dear  old  friend  as  he  is  able  to 
bear  it  :  John,  xiv.,  1  ;  1  John,  iv.,  8,  last  clause  ;  1  John, 
iv.,  10  ;  1  John,  i.,  7,  last  clause  ;  Isaiah,  xliii.,  2,  first  clause  ; 
Isaiah,  xlv.,  22  ;  Isaiah,  xlv.,  21,  last  clause  ;  Luke,  ix.,  56  ; 
John,  iii.,  14-17  ;  2  Cor.,  v.,  19. 

May  He  who  is  a  very  present  help  in  the  time  of  trouble, 
be  present  with  you  all  on  this  solemn  occasion.  "What  a 
world  of  change  and  utter  vanity  we  live  in  I  May  we  die 
unto  it  daily,  and  live  unto  Him  who  liveth  forever. 

God  bless  and  sustain  you  all,  my  very  dear  Mrs.  Darroch. 
Yours  most  affectionately,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  cxxvm. 

MoRNiNGSiDE,  14th  February,  1847. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Darroch — Having  not  heard  from  you 
since  your  note  of  Monday,  I  flatter  myself  that  there  has 
been  no  change  for  the  worse. 

MeanAvhile,  let  us  humbly  hope  and  earnestly  pray  for  the 
merciful  dealings  of  God's  free  and  wiUing  Spirit  with  his 
soul. 

What  an  encouragement  and  what  a  liberal  warrant  for 
those  intercessions  which  God  wills  us  to  make  in  behalf  of 
all  men,  and  on  the  express  ground,  too,  that  He  wills  all 
men  to  be  saved  and  to  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth. 
Couple  this  with  the  declaration  that  whatsoever  we  ask  for, 
which  is  agreeable  to  the  will  of  God,  that  we  shall  receive, 
and  I  can  imagine  nothing  more  complete  in  the  way  of  au- 


MRS.  DARROCH.  155 


thorizing  us  to  ask  till  we  receive,  to  seek  till  we  find,  to 
knock  till  the  door  of  salvation  be  opened,  that  we  and  those 
who  are  near  and  dear  to  us  may  enter  in. 

Yours  with  great  affection,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CXXIX. 

Edinburgh,  Mormngside,  21st  Febrtcary,  1847. 

My  very  dear  Mrs.  Darroch — I  was  prepared  to  receive 
your  affecting  intelligence  ;  but,  however  much  looked  lor,  the 
event  itself  never  fails  to  strike  and  to  solemnize  us.  This 
is  as  it  ought  to  be  ;  but  how  little,  alas  I  does  the  mere  pa- 
thos or  tenderness  of  natural  feeling  avail  of  itself  to  make  us 
wisely  and  practically,  and  to  good  or  saving  purpose,  consid- 
erate of  our  latter  end. 

I  always  liked  the  general,  and  ever  felt  as  if  there  was 
the  force  of  a  natural  affinity  between  us.  I  am  much  in- 
terested by  what  you  tell  me  of  his  latter  end.  "  God  is 
love,"  and  that  is  a  consideration  which  ought  always  to  keep 
us  from  despair,  either  for  ourselves  or  others,  though  without 
prejudice  to  the  moral  influences  of  another  lesson,  no  less 
emphatically  true,  that  "God  is  holiness." 

What  a  blessed  economy,  what  an  exquisite  skillfulness  in 
it  I  how  unsearchable  are  its  riches,  in  that,  by  virtue  of  its 
provisions,  these  two  attributes  of  the  Divinity  are  so  fully  har- 
monized ;  mercy  and  truth  have  met  together,  righteousness 
and  peace  have  entered  into  fellowship.  May  yours,  my 
dearest  Mrs.  Darroch,  be  all  the  comfort  and  all  the  sanctify- 
ing influence  which  this  contemplation  is  fitted  to  administer, 
as  in  the  glass  of  the  Gospel  you  look  at  the  blended  love  and 
holiness  of  the  Godhead. 

I  beg  that  you  will  offer  to  the  major  my  most  affectionate 
condolence,  and  to  all  your  family  ;  and  when  you  write  dear 
Mrs.  Cardwell,  tell  her  of  my  heartfelt  regards.  What  a 
retrospect  of  other  years  is  now  present  to  my  memory  ;  and 
in  vivid  picture  there  is  also  that  family  burial-place  to  liie 
south  of  your  house  where  the  general  is  now  lying.      May 


156  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

your  children  learn  wisdom  at  his  grave.     My  dearest  mad- 
am, yours  most  affectionately, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 


LETTERS  TO  GENERAL  DARROCH. 
No.  CXXX. 

Burntisland,  23c?  June,  1841. 

My  dear  General — Before  making  a  specific  reply  to 
your  question,  I  would  first  premise  that  it  conveys  to  my 
mind  no  assurance  of  parliamentary  support  to  our  Church 
from  any  individual,  of  whom  I  am  told  no  more  than  that 
-he  belongs  to  a  certain  party  in  the  state,  on  whatever  side 
he  may  happen  to  be. 

Having  made  this  general  statement  alike  applicable,  ei- 
ther to  Conservatives  merely  as  such,  or  to  Liberals  merely 
as  such,  let  me  now  state  what  appears  to  me  at  present  the 
great  difference  between  them. 

Should  the  Conservatives  prove  the  dominant  party,  and  if 
their  collective  mind  is  to  be  interpreted  by  the  recent  declar- 
ation (too  authentic,  I  fear,  of  Sir  Robert  Peel's),  then  the  dis- 
solution of  our  Church  as  a  National  Establishment  must 
be  the  inevitable  result.  Should,  on  the  other  hand,  the  Lib- 
erals be  the  dominant  party,  and  if  their  collective  mind  is 
to  be  interpreted  by  the  various  sayings  of  Lord  Melbourne, 
which,  all  taken  together,  indicate  a  downright  indifferency 
to  the  whole  matter,  then,  without  one  scintilla  of  affirmative 
confidence  in  them  as  a  body,  there  is  still  the  possibility  that, 
under  them,  we  may  at  least  be  let  alone  by  the  Legislature 
— so  let  alone  as  we  have  been  during  the  last  two  years.  In 
this  view  of  the  matter,  the  two  terms  of  the  alternative,  on 
which  you  have  to  balance  your  decision,  are  the  certainty  of 
destruction  or  the  chance  of  safety. 

I  have  only  to  add,  that  the  declaration  of  Mr.  Stewart  con- 
trasts favorably  with  the  acts  of  Colonel  Mure,  by  which  1 
mean  his  late  votes  in  the  General  Assembly.     And  further- 


GENERAL  DARROCH.  157 

more,  that  whereas  nothing  can  be  more  annoying  than  the 
lame  and  impotent  defenses  made  of  the  Church,  even  by  the 
best  of  her  lay  friends,  whether  in  or  out  of  Parliament,  due, 
of  course,  to  the  want  of  a  distinct  understanding  on  the  ques- 
tion, I  must  say  that  I  have  not  read  a  more  clear,  distinct, 
and  able  statement  for  the  Church,  by  any  of  our  merely  sec- 
ular and  political  supporters,  than  the  one  I  read  to-day  from 
a  reported  speech  of  Mr.  Stewart's  in  the  town  of  Greenock. 

I  am  sensible  that,  instead  of  presenting  you  with  any  de- 
cision of  mine,  I  am  only  presenting  you  with  the  data,  in 
which,  perhaps,  you  may  find  some  help  in  coming  to  your 
own  decision  on  this  subject. 

You  will  perceive  from  the  above  that  the  declaration  of  Sir 
Robert  Peel  necessarily  influences  and  affects  my  views  upon 
this  question,  and  makes  me  look  on  the  Conservatives  as 
now  standing  in  a  different  relation  to  the  Church  from  that 
in  which  I  at  one  time  regarded  them  both  with  confidence 
and  pleasure.  How  I  long  for  a  Wilberforce  party  in  Parlia- 
ment, consisting  of  men  who  would  make  it  the  polar  star  of 
their  public  and  parliamentary  conduct  to  adopt  such  meas- 
ures as  were  best  for  the  moral  and  religious  well-being  of  the 
population.  I  ever  am,  my  dear  general,  yours  most  respect- 
fully, and  with  the  utmost  regard,        Thomas  Chalmers. 

P.S. — Since  writing  the  above,  I  have  seen  a  gentleman 
who  has  been  strenuously  insisting  that  the  policy  of  Scot- 
tish Churchmen  is  to  send  as  many  Conservative  members, 
pledged  to  Non-intrusion,  as  possible,  so  as  that  they  might 
favorably  influence  Sir  Robert  in  the  cause  of  our  spiritual  in- 
dependence. I  am  not  able  to  decide,  among  these  conflicting 
elements,  what  our  best  policy  is  in  the  matter  of  these  elec- 
tions ;  but  in  the  matters  which  properly  belong  to  us,  I  be- 
heve  that  our  true  policy  is  a  fearless  course  of  principle,  and 
thorough  determination  rather  to  separate  from  the  state  than 
give  up,  by  ever  so  little,  our  own  final  jurisdiction  in  things 
ecclesiastical. 


158  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


No.  CXXXI. 

MORNINGSIDE,   EDINBURGH,    10th  jlugUSt,    1845. 

My  dear  General  Darroch — I  have  long  meditated  a 
letter  to  you,  and  I  am  greatly  encouraged  to  use  this  free- 
dom by  the  uniform  urbanity  and  kindness  which  I  have  ever 
experienced  at  your  hands.  Nothing  can  exceed  my  grateful 
recollection  of  our  last  interviews  ;  and  I  fondly  hope  that 
the  lessons  which  I  read  in  the  affecting  memorials  of  the  de- 
parted upon  the  tablets  behind  your  house  will  make  an  in- 
delible impression  upon  me.  "  I  see  it  all  now,"  and  "  this 
is  real  life,"  carry  more  of  an  experimental  demonstration  for 
the  truth  of  religion  and  the  reality  of  eternal  things  than 
any  dying  testimony  that  I  remember  to  have  met  with  in 
the  biographies  of  the  good  and  the  faithful.  It  is  well  that 
you  have  recorded  these  precious  and  inestimable  sayings  on 
the  tombstone  of  her  who  poured  them  forth  in  her  last  and 
closing  accents  upon  earth.  May  they  tell  effectually  upon 
us  all,  and  lead  us  to  be  followers  of  them  who,  through  faith 
and  patience,  are  now  inheriting  the  promises. 

I  begin  to  feel  more  than  ever  the  rapidity  of  time,  and 
the  urgency  of  the  call  for  readiness  against  the  day  of  our 
great  and  coming  change.  And  I  should  say,  that  the  first 
and  greatest  step  toward  this  condition  of  gladiness  is,  just  to 
accept  of  the  forgiveness  which  God  holds  out  to  all  on  the 
footing  that  Christ  hath  died  for  us.  This  forgiveness  is  ours 
if  we  trust  in  Him  who  hath  set  forth  His  own  Son  as  a  pro- 
pitiation for  the  sins  of  the  world.  On  this  foundation,  on  this 
foundation  only,  do  we  stand  in  secure  reconciliation  with 
God  ;  and  so  standing,  might  we  plead  with  all  confidence 
for  the  fulfillment  of  His  own  promise,  that  He  would  pour 
forth  His  Spirit  upon  us,  and  shed  abroad  His  love  in  our 
hearts,  and  make  us  new  creatures,  and  prepare  us  for  the 
everlasting  enjoyment  of  Himself  in  heaven,  where  there  is 
fullness  of  pleasures  at  His  own  right  hand. 

It  is  truly  my  earnest  prayer,  dearest  sir,  that  such  might 


DR.  RAINY.  159 


be  your  blessed  experience  in  time,  and  such  the  portion  of 
your  eternity.  The  world  is  fast  receding  from  us  both. 
These  days  and  years  are  flying  over  our  heads  with  a  speed 
which  seems  to  increase  with  every  new  revolution  of  the 
seasons.  And  it  is  a  world,  too,  in  which,  by  our  Savior's 
own  statement  (John,  xvi.,  33),  we  should  be  ever  laying  our 
account  to  meet  with  tribulation.  But  what  a  delightful 
counterpart  to  this  is  the  other  statement,  that  in  Him  we 
shall  have  peace  ;  may  this  peace,  my  dearest  general,  be 
yours;  may  you  have  great  peace,  great  joy  in  believing.  I 
can  truly  say  of  this  world,  that  in  it  I  would  not  live  alway. 
One's  path  here — and  I  have  the  frequent  experience  of  it — 
is  beset  with  vexations  and  discomforts  on  every  side.  But 
what  a  deliverance  to  take  refuge  from  all  these  in  the  love 
of  a  pitying  Savior,  and  in  the  firm  prospect  of  that  eternal 
life  which  is  the  gift  of  God  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 

I  have  been  pondering  some  of  the  other  death-bed  sayings 
of  dear  Mrs.  Darroch.  They  have  been  furnished  to  me  by 
your  daughter-in-law,  one  of  my  best-loved  friends.  I  have 
been  greatly  affected  by  the  perusal  of  them.  They  form  al- 
together a  most  precious  and  animating  record  of  her  who  has 
gone  before  us.  Let  us  die  the  death  of  the  righteous,  let  our 
latter  end  be  like  theirs.  Truly  hers  was  a  latter  end  of 
peace,  clothed  upon  with  the  righteousness  of  Christ,  and  look- 
ing confidently  forward  to  its  rewards,  she  died,  as  did  my  own 
mother  about  eighteen  years  ago,  iftthe  triumphs  of  the  faith. 
I  ever  am,  my  dear  general,  yours  with  the  greatest  regard, 

Thomas  ChalmePcS. 


LETTERS  TO  DR. -RAINY  OF  GLASGOW. 

No.  CXXXII. 

Edinburgh,  Wth  February,  1844. 
My  dear  Sir — I  have  not  been  more  moved  for  a  long 
time  than  by  the  replies  of  Mrs.  Darroch  and  Mrs.  Cardweil 


160  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

to  my  letters,  which  both  arrived  by  the  same  post — the  one 
from  London  and  the  other  from  Gourock — and  the  perusal 
of  which  at  the  same  time  I  felt  to  be  peculiarly  impressive. 
The  powerful  reaction  of  their  mother's  death  upon  each  of 
their  minds  will,  I  trust  and  pray,  be  signally  blessed  to  them 
both.  I  know  not  a  death,  indeed,  within  the  whole  compass 
of  my  recollection,  more  fitted  to  be  spiritually  fruitful  than 
hers.  Yerily,  though  dead,  she  yet  speaketh,  and  her  memory 
is  blessed. 

I  think  it  was  you  who  gave  me  Fisher's  "  Catechism," 
the  doctrine  of  which  (the  Marrow  doctrine)  is  very  conge- 
nial to  me.  Let  me  recommend  three  recently  pubhshed  Es- 
says on  the  Assurance  of  Faith,  by  Anderson,  Erskine,  and 
Cudworth,  which  I  think  you  would  like.  I  shall  be  glad, 
when  you  have  read  it,  that  you  tell  me  what  you  think  of 
Anderson,  who  is  new  to  me,  but  whose  views  I  think  are  very 
clearly  given  and  very  precious.  They  are  quite  at  one  with 
those  of  Fisher,  whose  Catechism  you  gave  me.  Had  I  lived 
a  hundred  years  ago,  I  would  have  joined  the  Marrow  men. 

I  do  hope  that  dear  Mrs.  Parker's  death  will  tell  benefi- 
cially upon  all  her  children.  I  can  not  rid  myself  (and  most 
assuredly  I  have  no  wish  to  do  it)  of  the  feeling  of  a  very 
strong  and  special  affinity — as  strong  as  that  of  blood  or  kin- 
dred— to  them  all.  By  this  death  I  feel  as  if  I  had  one  tie 
less  to  earth  and  one  tie  more  to  heaven. 

Give  my  very  kindest -regards  to  Mrs,  Rainy;  and,  with 
earnest  prayer  for  God's  best  blessings  upon  you  and  yours, 
ever  believe  me,  my  very  dear  sir,  yours  most  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

N.B. — The  three  Essays  I  mention  are  bound  up  in  one 
small  volume,  entitled  "  Essays  on  the  Assurance  of  Faith." 
Johnstone  here  is  publisher.  T.  C. 


MRS.  BROWN.  161 


No.  CXXXIII. 

Edinburgh,  6th  March,  1847. 

My  dear  Sir — I  am  anxious  to  know  if  you  think  that 
larger  sacrifices  and  exertions  are  necessary  to  keep  our  coun- 
trymen from  dying  of  hunger.  I  have  a  very  strong  persua- 
sion that  we  greatly  underrate  the  magnitude  of  the  distress, 
and  I  should  have  the  greatest  value  for  your  testimony  upon 
the  subject. 

I  send  you  one  or  two  documents  that  have  at  least  some 
relation  to  the  matter  in  question. 

I  have  the  utmost  liking  and  respect  for  your  son,  as  one 
of  the  most  intellectual,  and,  I  hope,  pious,  and  altogether 
among  the  best  conditioned  of  my  students.  Kindest  regards 
to  Mrs.  and  Miss  Rainy.  I  ever  am,  my  dear  sir,  yours  veiy 
truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

How  I  rejoice  to  observe  the  notice  which  is  taken  of  your 
brother's  patriotic  efforts  in  the  government  volume  of  Cor- 
respondence on  the  Highland  Destitution.  T.  C. 


No.  CXXXIV. — Letter  to  Mrs.  Brown. 

Kensington  Place,  3d  May,  1818. 
My  dear  Madam — In  this  season  of  very  painful  interest 
and  anxiety  to  us  all,  I  feel  inclined  to  write  a  few  things, 
knowing  well,  at  the  same  time,  how  powerless  the  words  or 
the  wisdom  of  man  are  in  such  an  hour  of  heavy  trial  as  that 
which  has  come  upon  you,  and  that  it  is  God  alone,  who  hath 
sent  the  trial,  that  can  send  out  of  His  sanctuary  the  need- 
ful help  and  consolation.  .He  alone  can  prepare  you  for  the 
whole  of  His  will,  and  bring  you  out  of  this  arduous  struggle 
between  the  feeling  of  nature  and  the  faith  of  His  own  Gos- 
pel, and  teach  you  to  suffer  as  well  as  to  do,  and  gently  cahn 
your  heart  into  a  settled  acquiescence  in  that  order  which, 
for  wise  and  righteous  reasons,  He  hath  been  pleased  to  in- 


162  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

stitute,  and  by  which  we  are  made  to  understand  that  it  is 
through  much  tribulation  we  shall  enter  into  the  kingdom  of 
God. 

Our  first  prayer  in  the  matter  of  trials  should  be,  "Lay 
not  upon  us  trials  beyond  what  we  have  strength  to  bear." 
But  if  we  see  the  likelihood  of  a  trial  approaching  ;  if  the 
progress  of  the  event  looks  threatening  ;  if,  explaining  the  will 
of  God  by  what  has  happened  or  is  like  to  happen,  we  have 
reason  to  fear  or  to  conclude  that  such  is  His  appointment — 
then  our  next  prayer  should  be,  "  Give  us  strength  to  bear 
this  trial."  It  has  been  well  said,  that  duties  are  ours  and 
events  are  God's.  We  are  sure  that  He  does  not  afflict  will- 
ingly. We  are  sure  that  there  is  mercy  in  all  His  visitations, 
and  that  His  chastening  hand  yieldeth  the  fruit  of  righteous- 
ness. It  is  said  of  God  by  His  own  Son,  who  was  meek  and 
gentle,  and  wept  over  the  sufierings  of  nature,  and  had  compas- 
sion on  the  widow  of  Nain — it  is  said  by  Him,  that  if  a  tree 
bring  not  forth  fruit.  He  purgeth  it  or  pruneth  it,  that  it  may 
bring  forth  more  fruit.  The  desire  of  our  heart  runs  too  much 
to  the  creature,  and  He,  in  kindness,  taketh  away  from  us  the 
dearest  and  best-loved  object,  that  this  desire  may  be  checked 
and  restrained,  and  turned  in  the  right  and  salutary  direction 
toward  Himself.  It  looks  very  dark  and  overwhelming  to  us 
in  the  mean  time,  but  that  is  because  we  are  ever  regarding 
the  world  as  our  all.  It  would  not  look  dark  did  we  thor- 
oughly feel  ourselves  to  be  strangers  and  pilgrims  in  the 
world — did  our  eye  carry  our  mind  forward  to  eternity — did 
we  see  time  in  its  true  character  as  a  rapid  journey  to  our 
stable  and  ultimate  home — did  we  contemplate  death  as  a  re- 
moval, and  think  believingly  of  that  city  which  hath  found- 
ations, and  whose  builder  and  maker  is  God. 

It  is  a  cruel  flattery  of  human  wishes  to  disguise  the  utter- 
most extent  of  the  possibility  to  which  we  are  h able.  Your 
excellent  son  may  recover,  but  he  may  not ;  and  your  mind 
should  be  familiarized  to  both  terms  of  this  alternative,  and 
you  should  be  feeling  your  way  to  Him  who,  after  he  ha.s 


MRS.  BROWN.  163 


driven  away  all  your  earthly  props,  can  give  you  His  own 
word  and  His  own  promises  to  rest  upon ;  and  it  is  not  a  pain- 
ful or  iatiguing  search  to  which  1  am  now  directing  you.  It 
is  not  a  search,  the  labor  and  the  difficulty  of"  which  are  be- 
yond the  reach  of  agitated,  and  oppressed,  and  fearful  huinan- 
ity ;  for  He  is  not  far  from  you,  and  He  has  revealed  Himself 
a  very  'present  help  in  the  time  of  trouble,  and  He  is  ready, 
even  now,  to  meet  your  approaches  ;  and  He  asks  you  not 
merely  to  draw  near,  but  to  draw  near  with  holdnes,?, ;  and 
for  what? — that  you  may  have  grace  to  help  you  in  the  time 
of  7ieed. 

The  very  last  chapter  I  have  read  is  the  sixth  of  John.  I 
have  got,  I  think,  some  comfort  and  establishment  from  it.  It 
is  a  marvelously  free  overture  that  is  there  made  to  the  help- 
less and  the  sinful.  If  we  receive  by  faith  the  body  and  the 
blood  of  Christ,  He  will  dwell  in  us,  and  we  shall  be  complete 
in  Him. 

Let  us  not,  however,  remit  our  prayers  for  the  recovery  of 
the  interesting  patient  in  subjection  to  the  will  of  God.  My 
last  excursion  with  him  to  lloseneath  raised  very  high  my 
estimation  of  his  religious  earnestness.  He  at  that  time  dis- 
covered a  mind  deeply  and  seriously  at  work  about  the  con- 
cerns of  the  soul,  at  the  same  time  weaned  from  all  delusive 
confidence  in  his  own  attainments,  and  evidently  seeking  for 
a  surer  foundation.  I  walked  with  him  some  weeks  before 
through  his  own  properties,  and  there  witnessed  the  fruits  of 
his  beneficence,  and  heard  the  blessings  upon  him  of  those 
who  were  ready  to  perish.  I  heard  him  afterward  express 
the  sense  he  had  of  his  own  nothingness,  and  confess  Christ 
as  the  alone  Author  of  salvation.  Let  us  hope  the  good  deeds 
done  in  his  body  were  dona  unto  that  Great  Judge  who  will 
acknowledge  and  reward  them,  and  proceeded  from  that  faith 
which  gives  an  interest  and  a  part  in  his  better  righteousness. 

Be  assured  of  my  sympathies  and  my  prayers,  and  believe 
me,  my  dear  madam,  yours  most  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 


164  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


LETTERS  TO  MR.  ROBERT  BROWN.* 
No.  CXXXV. 

Anstruther,  2Ath  July.,  1818. 

My  dear  Sir — 1  take  the  liberty  of  doing  now  what  I 
should  have  done  during  my  last  excursion  from  Glasgow, 
that  is,  congratulate  you  on  your  returning  health,  and  express 
my  earnest  wish  that  all  the  earnestness  inspired  by  your  re- 
cent visitation  may  indeed  yield  unto  you  an  abundant  sup- 
ply of  the  peaceable  fruits  of  righteousness.  I  am  quite  aware 
of  the  consciousness  you  have  of  a  want  of  permanent  interest 
and  seriousness  about  these  things,  and  many  are  those  who 
feel  an  unsatisfied  longing  which  they  know  not  how  to  ap- 
pease ;  and  never  do  I  myself  approximate  more  nearly  to  a 
full  and  settled  state  of  mind  in  reference  to  God,  than  when 
I  feel  divested  of  every  thing  in  myself,  and  am  seeking  to 
the  offered  righteousness  of  Christ  as  my  hiding-place  and  my 
plea  before  Him. 

We  are  apt,  from  the  very  frequency  of  a  term,  not  to  ex- 
tend our  attention  to  its  real  meaning.  The  righteousness  of 
Christ  imputed  to  those  who  believe  is  a  phrase  so  familiar 
that  it  loses  its  impression.  But  hearken  diligently  to  this 
joyful  intimation,  and  your  soul  shall  hve.  Your  sin  put  to 
Christ's  account,  and  His  righteousness  put  to  your  account, 
totally  alter  your  relation  with  God.  To  this  new  and  de- 
lightful relation  you  are  invited.  It  is  unto  all  and  upon  all 
who  believe  ;  and  not  till  this  be  really  apprehended  by  you 
will  the  darkness,  and  the  distance,  and  the  enmity  of  heart, 
which  are  between  God  and  the  sinner,  be  done  away.  Give 
earnest  heed  to  this  word,  and  the  daylight  will  dawn  in  your 
heart.  Trust  in  Christ,  and  you  will  be  sealed  with  the  Holy 
Spirit  of  promise,  and,  through  the  love  of  God  shed  abroad 
in  you,  be  a  new  creature. 

My  poor  father  is  upon  the  bed  of  his  last  sickness.     He 
was  struck  with  palsy  on  Friday,  and  has  since  been  inartic- 
*  Married  to  a  sister  of  Mrs.  Parker. 


MR.  BROWN.  165 


ulate.  He  has  an  inward  peace,  of  which  we  all  know  the 
cause  ;  and  it  softens  the  whole  distress  of  this  mournful  oc- 
casion. He  accepted  long  ago  of  justification  by  faith  ;  and 
the  faith  that  is  in  him  has  been  the  living  principle  of  a  life 
both  of  prayer  and  of  performance. 

May  I  entreat  your  zeal  and  exertion  in  behalf  of  my  par- 
ish. Make  no  premature  exertion  in  your  own  person,  but 
you  may  perhaps  help  me  to  some  new  agents.  Let  us  not, 
at  the  same  time,  hurry  this  matter.  But  I  would  feel  as  if 
my  lines  had  fallen  to  me  in  pleasant  places,  and  I  had  in- 
deed a  goodly  heritage,  could  I  bring  St.  John's  under  a 
thorough  system  of  moral  and  spiritual  cultivation. 

Mrs.  Chalmers  unites  in  best  compliments  to  you  and  Mrs. 
Brown.      Our  children  are  well. 

Do  give  me  a  letter  addressed  to  Anstruther,  Fifeshire. 
Yours  most  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CXXXVI. 

Anstruther,  10th  August^  1818. 

My  dear  Sir — I  received  your  most  interesting  letter,  and 
I  can  assure  you  that  you  mistake  the  nature  of  my  engage- 
ments altogether,  if  you  think  I  would  delay  to  answer  it. 
Such  an  interesting  topic  as  it  embraces,  so  far  from  being  ex- 
traneous to  any  business  of  mine,  ought,  in  fact,  to  be  incorpo- 
rated with  it,  and  to  constitute  its  main  and  favorite  article. 

It  is  well  that  you  have  all  these  restless  and  unsatisfied 
longings.  They  will  serve,  I  trust,  the  salutaiy  object  of 
weaning  you  from  yourself  Be  assured  that,  long  after  the 
mouth  has  learned  to  ascribe  all  sufficiency  to  Christ,  the 
heart  may  still  adhere  to  a  remainder  of  feeling  respecting 
its  own  sufficiency,  and  the-  remainder  must  be  given  up,  and 
the  whole  matter  of  salvation  be  given  over  to  Him  who  is 
the  alone  Author  of  it.  Even  after  we  profess  the  righleous- 
ness  of  Christ  to  be  all  our  justification,  there  is  still  a  tend- 
ency on  our  part  to  work  for  it.  Now,  the  first  Christians 
had  peace  and  joy  from  the  outset.     They  trusted  in  Christ, 


166  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

and  were  then  sealed  with  the  Holy  Spirit  of  promise.  The 
Spirit  came  to  them,  not  in  the  act  of  their  performing  the 
work  of  the  law,  but  in  the  act  of  their  hearing  with  faith. 

The  question  of  acceptance  is  a  question  between  you  and 
the  Lawgiver.  Roll  over  this  cause  upon  Him  who  alone 
hath  magnified  the  law,  and  made  it  honorable  by  fulfilling 
it  in  your  stead.  Let  not  any  righteousness  of  your  own  en- 
ter as  an  element  into  the  solution  of  it ;  for  this  will  darken 
and  perplex  the  solution,  and  take  off  altogether  from  its  clear- 
ness and  its  certainty.  There  remains  another  question  be- 
tween you  and  the  Son  :  "  What  shall  I  render  unto  the  Lord 
for  all  His  benefits  ?"  Doubt  not  that  He  has  completed  for 
you  the  benefit  of  justification,  and  the  less  you  doubt  of  this 
the  more  powerful  and  ardent  will  be  the  gratitude  which 
prompts  this  latter  question.  And  O,  how  complete  is  that 
Gospel,  which  not  only  inspires  a  sentiment,  but  affords  power 
for  carrying  it  into  effect,  which  gives  strength  as  well  as  the 
will  to  render  back  to  our  Savior  those  mercies  which  are 
well-pleasing  in  His  sight,  and  which,  perfumed  by  the  in- 
cense of  his  merits,  ascend  also  as  spiritual  sacrifices  accept- 
able unto  God.  My  best  compliments  to  Mrs.  Brown.  Be- 
lieve me  ever,  yours  most  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CXXXVII. 

Dunblane,  9th  July,  1819. 
My  dear  Sir — I  know  that  I  do  not  need  to  urge  upon 
you  any  attentions  that  may  be  right  or  necessary  toward  our 
Sabbath-school  teachers.  You  are  fully  persuaded  of  the  ex- 
cellence of  the  institution,  and  of  the  importance  of  extending 
its  interests  as  far  as  you  can.  But  I  beg  leave  to  suggest  to 
you  that,  while  you  may  carry  personal  exertion  to  a  degree 
hurtful  to  your  health,  you  may,  without  fatigue,  do  as  much 
good  by  the  simple  and  easy  putting  forth  of  your  personal  in- 
fluence. In  other  words,  if  you  are  still  unwell,  I  charge  you 
to  spare  yourself  as  to  the  work  of  your  own  particular  school ; 
and  I  oiier  the  hint  that,  though  you  may  be  apt,  on  that  ac- 


MR.  BROWN. 


1G7 


count,  to  regret  the  diminution  of  your  usefulness,  you  may, 
in  fact,  more  than  replace  all  that  you  lose  in  this  way  by 
usefulness  in  another  way,  even  by  the  stimulus  of  your  occa- 
sional intercourse  and  conversation  with  those  of  them  who 
have  health  for  personal  fatigue  and  exertion  in  the  direct 
work  of  a  teacher. 

May  I  suggest  that  it  were  desirable  that  any  attentions 
which  you,  or  Mr.  M'Culloch,  or  Mr.  Falconer  can  bestow, 
should  be  somewhat  equahzed  by  their  being  a  little  extend- 
ed to  those  of  the  teachers  who  have  not  got  in  so  far  within 
the  limits  of  that  organizationship  which  subsists  among  the 
members  of  our  society.  At  the  same  time,  do  not  overdo. 
A  small  party  once  in  the  month  or  two  months  would  be  a 
very  full  contribution  to  this  object. 

I  have  to  entreat  an  interest  in  your  prayers.  I  feel  a 
woeful  bereavement  of  spirituality — an  exceeding  dimness  as 
to  any  sense  or  perception  of  God — no  distinct  impression  of 
the  evil  of  sin — and  I  am  sure  no  adequate  thoughts  of  my 
Savior,  either  as  to  the  worth  of  His  sacrifice  or  the  glories 
of  His  character.  Many  think  me  profound  in  the  mysteries 
of  the  kingdom  of  Heaven  :  I  know  myself  to  be  the  veriest 
babe  ;  and  that  there  may  be  talk  and  argumentation  about 
these  things  without  the  spiritual  discernment  of  them.  But 
let  me  comfort  myself  in  this,  that  even  to  the  simple  exer- 
cise of  trusting  does  God  award  His  promises  and  encourage- 
ments ;  and  they  who  walk  in  darkness  and  have  no  light 
may  yet  trust.  I  have  just  been  reading  Alieine,  I  hope  with 
profit.  There  is  a  closeness,  and  a  pertinency,  and  a  power 
in  the  writings  of  the  good  old  Puritan,  of  which  we  fall  great- 
ly short  in  these  days  of  feebleness  and  degeneracy.  Offer  my 
most  respectful  compliments  to  Mrs.  Brown,  and  believe  me, 
my  very  dear  sir,  yours  most  truly,      Thomas  Chalmers. 

I  desire  to  be  particularly  recommended  to  your  brother. 
I  hope  that  both  you  and  he  have  had  great  comfort  in  your 
respective  surveys.  T.  C 


168  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


No.  CXXXVIII. 

St.  Andrews,  lOf^  ^pn7,  1826. 

My  dear  Sir — Both  Mrs.  Chalmers  and  I  received  with 
deep  emotion  the  distressing  intelligence  conveyed  to  us  by 
your  letter.  We  had,  indeed,  observed  it  before  in  a  newspa- 
per, and  were  informed  of  some  further  particulars  by  a  gen- 
tleman from  Glasgow.  But  we  had  not  learned,  till  we  re- 
ceived your  letter,  the  very  mournful  circumstances  in  which 
poor  Mrs.  Francis  Brown  has  been  left  by  the  death  of  her 
husband — a  situation  so  powerfully  fitted  to  call  forth  the 
sympathy  of  all  her  friends,  and  to  exercise  their  faith  in  the 
mysterious  providence  of  that  God,  who,  however  dark  in  His 
ways,  does  all  things  wisely  and  well. 

That,  indeed,  is  a  great  alleviation  which  you  have  speci- 
fied, even  the  apparent  religious  state  of  your  brother  previ- 
ous to  his  dissolution.  And  I  must  confess  that  I  felt  a  pe- 
culiar gratification  in  your  description  of  the  letter  which  you 
received  upon  this  subject,  both  on  account  of  her  who  wrote 
it  and  of  her  to  whom  it  was  addressed.  Theirs  is  the  fel- 
lowship of  one  common  suffering.  May  they  partake  largely 
of  one  common  consolation,  and  may  the  death  of  a  friend  so 
near  and  dear  to  both,  unite  their  hearts  and  their  hopes  in 
that  Gospel,  the  faith  of  which  can  irradiate  even  the  dark- 
est visitation. 

I  enter  fully  into  the  anxieties  which  you  express  because 
of  Mrs.  Francis  Brown,  whose  situation  can  not  fail  to  draw 
forth  the  tenderest  solicitude  of  all  her  friends.  I  can  scarce- 
ly imagine  any  thing  so  painfully  and  peculiarly  interesting 
as  her  present  situation  ;  and  I  pray  that,  in  the  desolations 
of  her  state,  she  may  experience  an  upholding  confidence  in 
Him  who  bears  respect  to  the  stranger  in  a  strange  land. 

I  was  much  touched  and  gratified  by  the  last  half  of  your 
letter,  and  by  the  just  and  striking  reflections  at  the  close  of 
it.  I  feel  with  you  that  the  world  has  a  sad  power  of  fas- 
cination over  the  heart,  and  that,  to  wean  us  therefrom,  there 


MR.  BROWN.  IQ9 


are  crosses  and  extremities  in  life  which  appear  to  be  indis- 
pensable. May  your  soul  prosper  more  and  more  under  the 
discipline  of  God's  providential  hand  ;  and  let  our  experience 
of  the  vanities  of  the  creature  effectually  shut  us  up  unto  God 
in  Christ  as  the  strength  of  our  heart  and  our  everlasting  por- 
tion. 

Give  my  affectionate  condolence  to  Mrs.  Brown.  Assure 
her  both  of  my  own  sympathy  and  that  of  Mrs.  Chalmers,  and 
of  my  prayers  for  her  comfort  and  spiritual  improvement  in 
this  the  hour  of  her  visitation.  We  long  also  to  be  remem- 
bered to  your  Mrs.  Brown  ;  and  I  entreat  you  to  believe  me, 
my  dear  sir,  yours  very  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CXXXIX. 

Edinburgh,  17th  April^  1832. 

My  dear  Sir — I  can  assure  you  it  was  not  without  emo- 
tion that  I  heard  of  the  death  of  your  excellent,  steady,  con- 
sistent, and  altogether  exemplary  mother,  whose  memory  I 
shall  ever  cherish  as  one  of  the  finest  specimens  I  ever  knew 
of  cardinal  worth,  and  all  those  virtues  which  mark  a  stead- 
fast, and,  withal,  a  sober-minded  Christian,  well-grounded  in 
the  faith,  and  thoroughly  intelligent  both  in  the  doctrines  and 
moralities  of  the  Bible. 

Mrs.  Chalmers  fully  participates  in  the  feelings  which  I 
now  express,  and  we  unite  in  offering  our  sincere  condolence 
and  sympathy  on  this  affecting  occasion.  May  it  prove  a  les- 
son to  us  all  of  the  evanescence  of  the  passing  world,  and  the 
wisdom  of  being  followers  of  those  who  through  faith  and 
patience  are  now  inheriting  the  promises. 

Nothing  brings  home  more  experimentally  to  my  heart  the 
lesson  of  my  native  carnality  than  the  constant  need  which 
there  is  of  having  the  doctrine  of  mortality  so  repeatedly  told 
to  me  ;  and  it  does  show  how  prone  we  are  to  cleave  to  the 
dust  of  a  perishable  word,  that,  though  told  of  death  over  and 
over  again,  yet  do  we  persist  in  living  here  as  if  here  we  were 
to  live  forever. 

V  H 


170  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

May  we  at  length  learn  wisdom,  and,  living  a  life  of  faith 
on  the  Son  of  God,  may  we,  when  our  last  change  arrives,  be 
found  in  readiness  for  a  blessed  translation  into  His  presence, 
where  there  is  fullness  of  joy  and  pleasures  for  evermore. 
With  our  kindest  regards  to  Mrs.  Brown,  I  ever  am,  my  dear 
sir,  yours  most  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CXL. 
Edinburgh,  Mormngside,  1st  June,  1845. 

My  very  dear  Sir — I  should  have  responded  sooner  to 
the  melancholy  intelligence  of  a  month  back,  respecting  your 
daughter  Isabella.  The  intimation  was  a  moving  one  to  us 
all  ;  and  the  invariable  effect  upon  myself  is,  that  it  makes 
me  feel  as  if  domesticated  in  the  household  of  mourners  by 
being  thus  made  a  partaker  in  the  griefs  of  so  affecting  a 
bereavement. 

I  have  often  reflected  upon  it  as  a  singular  mark  of  the 
Divine  forbearance  to  myself,  that,  though  now  about  thirty- 
three  years  a  family  man,  my  household  has  never  yet  been 
visited  by  death.  I  feel  as  if  this  laid  upon  me  a  fearful  re- 
sponsibility ;  nor  am  I  ever  more  powerfully  impressed  by  the 
languor  and  weakness  of  faith,  than  when  I  contrast  the  vivid 
interest  that  we  feel  in  the  temporal  good  of  our  children, 
with  the  sad  practical  insensibility  of  our  hearts  to  the  well- 
being  of  their  unperishable  souls. 

I  rejoice  to  understand  that  you  and  your  family  are  at 
Fairley.  I  expect  to  spend  a  fortnight  there  soon.  It  will 
be  to  me  the  scene  of  many  pensive  reminiscences  ;  but  I 
shall  feel  it  a  comfort,  now  that  the  burden  and  heat  of  our 
day  are  over*  with  us  both,  to  hold  fellowship  Avith  yourself  as 
one  of  my  old  friends  and  associates  through  years  that  have 
long  passed  over  us. 

Offer  my  kindest  regards  and  sympathies  to  dear  Mrs, 
Brown,  and  also  to  the  Misses  Brown  and  your  sons.  May 
the  bereavement  under  which  you  suffer  be  sanctified  both  to 
you  and  yours.     Let  our  affections  be  weaned  from  a  world, 


MR.  PATRICK  CHALMERS. 


171 


the  dearest  and  nearest  objects  of  which  may  be  so  speedily 
withdrawn  from  us,  and,  seeking  the  city  which  hath  foun- 
dations, let  us  be  followers  of  them  who,  through  faith  and 
patience,  are  now  inheriting  the  promises.  Ever  believe  me, 
my  dear  sir,  yours  very  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 


LETTERS  TO  MR.  PATRICK  CHALMERS. 
No.  CXLI. 

Kii.MANY  Manse,  21st  May,  1812. 

Dear  Patrick — I  have  been  too  long  of  answering  your 
letter,  from  the  perusal  of  which  I  obtained  the  truest  satis- 
faction. It  would  give  me  great  pleasure  to  hear  that  you 
had  read  the  books  recommended  in  my  last,  and  how  you 
liked  them.  I  look  upon  Baxter  and  Doddridge  as  two  most 
impressive  writers,  and  from  them  you  are  most  likely  to  carry 
away  the  impression  that  a  preparation  for  eternity  should  be 
the  main  business  and  anxiety  of  time.  But,  after  all,  the 
Bible  should  be  the  daily  exercise  of  those  who  have  de- 
cidedly embarked  in  this  great  business  ;  and  if  read  with 
the  earnest  sense  and  feeling  of  its  being  God's  message — if 
perused  with  the  same  awe,  and  veneration,  and  confidence 
as  if  the  words  were  actually  coming  out  of  His  mouth — if, 
while  you  do  read,  you  read  with  the  prayer  and  the  desire 
that  it  might  be  with  understanding  and  profit,  you  are  in  a 
far  more  direct  road  to  "  becoming  wise  unto  salvation,"  than 
any  other  that  can  possibly  be  recommended  to  you.  There 
is  no  subject  on  which  people  are  readier  to  form  rash  opin- 
ions than  religion.  The  Bible  is  the  best  corrective  to  these. 
A  man  should  sit  down  to  it  with  the  determination  of  taking 
his  lesson  just  as  he  finds  it  ;  of  founding  his  creed  upon  the 
sole  principle  of  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord  ; "  and  deriving  his 
ever}'  idea  and  his  every  impression  of  religious  truth  from  the 
authentic  record  of  his  will  and  of  his  doctrine. 

I  w'as  at  Anster  last  week,  and  found  them  all  in  tolerable 
health.     There  is  now  a  very  fine  appearance  on  our  fields. 


172  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

The  good  weather  was  long  of  setting  in,  but  it  has  set  in  at 
last,  and  the  country  is  in  all  its  glory.  I  have  purchased  a 
horse  lately.  I  ride  about  ten  miles  a  day  upon  it,  and  find 
myself  much  the  better  of  the  exercise.  The  keep  is  rather 
expensive,  but  health  and  comfort  are  worth  the  purchasing  ; 
nor  will  I  grudge  the  whole  rent  of  my  glebe  upon  my  riding 
expenses,  I  let  my  grass-field  again  this  year  at  £8  6d.  per 
acre,  and  get  about  forty  guineas  for  my  land.  This  will 
nearly  all  go  upon  the  horse-tax,  maintenance,  and  person  that 
takes  care  of  him.  My  beadle  takes  care  of  my  horse  and 
garden  for  10s.  a  month. 

People  here  are  all  in  their  usual  state  of  health.  Are  you 
to  be  over  soon  ?  I  expect  Sandy  to  be  with  me  a  few  weeks 
soon.  My  Sacrament  is  to  be  held  on  Sunday,  the  21st  of 
June.     Let  me  hear  from  you.     I  am  yours  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CXLII. 
KiLMANY  Manse,  18th  November,  1812. 

My  Dear  Patrick — I  have  been  most  negligent  in  not 
writing  you  sooner.  I  hope  you  are  to  be  on  this  side  soon, 
in  which  case  you  will  of  course  spend  some  time  at  Kilmany, 
Mrs.  Chalmers  has  neither  seen  you  nor  Charles.  Will  you 
write  me  soon,  and  give  me  an  account  of  your  employments 
and  your  prospects  ?  I  am  no  judge  of  farming,  nor  am  I 
competent  to  offer  any  observations  upon  it.  I  trust  that  you 
continue  to  give  satisfaction  to  Mr.  Cowan,  and  should  rejoice 
to  hear  that  the  concern  was  now  a  prosperous  one. 

I  hope  you  have  never  lost  sight  of  the  important  subject 
of  your  last  correspondence.  It  would  give  me  pleasure  to 
understand  that,  amid  all  your  other  pursuits,  you  kept  firmly 
and  perse veringly  by  the  Bible.  If  we  would  only  think  of 
it  as  God's  message,  as  a  letter  from  our  greatest  friend,  as  a 
record  of  His  will  for  our  salvation,  I  know  not  what  apology 
could  be  thought  adequate  to  justifying  our  neglect  and  in- 
attention to  it.     I  should  like  to  hear  from  you  on  this  sub- 


MR.  PATRICK  CHALMERS.  173 


ject.  It  is  the  greatest  and  the  happiest  event  of  life,  when 
the  mind  takes  a  decided  hold  of  eternity,  and  when  it  be- 
comes its  first  care  to  seek  the  kingdom  of  God  and  His  right- 
eousness. I  hope  you  have  not  merely  begun,  but  are  advanc- 
ing in  the  inquiry  ;  and  I  give  it  as  the  result  of  my  own  ex- 
perience and  my  own  feelings,  that  you  will  never  feel  the 
firmness  of  your  ground  till  you  have  laid  on  the  foundation 
of  Christ,  and  put  your  confidence  in  that  name,  than  which 
there  is  no  other  given  under  Heaven  whereby  men  can  be 
saved.  A  true  faith  in  Christ  works  by  love,  and  love  aims 
at  obedience.  Again,  a  true  faith  in  Christ  is  followed  by  the 
gift  ofthe  Spirit  (John,  vii.,  39  ;  Gal.,  iii.,  14  ;  Rom.,  viii.,  32) ; 
the  Spirit  gives  strength  for  the  execution  of  the  aim,  and  you 
actually  yield  obedience.  In  this  way  your  faith  will  not  be 
dead  ;  it  will  abound  in  fruit,  and  you  will  rise  from  one  de- 
gree of  grace  unto  another,  till  you  arrive  at  a  meetness  for  the 
inheritance  ofthe  saints  in  light.  May  such  be  your  progress, 
and  such  your  destination.  Be  up  and  doing  ;  and  let  the  nu- 
merous calls  given  us,  both  by  the  Bible  and  by  experience, 
have  the  happy  efiect  to  stir  you  up  in  the  ways  of  wisdom 
and  of  piety. 

You  would  hear  of  Mr.  Johnson  of  Rathillet's  death.    Write 
soon.     Yours  most  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CXLIIL 

Anstruther,  18th  January,  1813. 
My  dear  Patrick — I  am  glad  to  observe  that  your  society 
at  Penicuick  is  fairly  set  agoing.  I,  however,  must  decline 
the  honor  of  being  a  member  of  it.  The  whole  amount  ofthe 
advantage  would  be  4s.  4:d.  additional  to  the  cause,  which  I 
have  it  in  my  power  to  send  by  nearer  and  more  convenient 
channels.  The  truth  is,  that  I  find  I  have  gone  too  far  in 
the  way  of  connecting  myself  with  other  societies,  and  have 
frittered  away  in  smalls  what  would  have  made  a  hands^ome 
sum  at  home,  where  it  would  have  done  more  good  in  the 
way  of  example  and  efiect  among  my  immediate  neighbors. 


174  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

I  am,  besides,  called  upon  to  preach  occasional  sermons  often, 
and  do  not  like  to  pass  without  a  suitable  offering  to  the  col- 
lection. You  must  see  that,  having  a  neighborhood  and  a 
parish  of  my  own  to  attend  to,  I  must  resist  these  foreign  ap- 
plications. I  must  stop  somewhere  ;  and  knowing  that,  from 
my  acquaintance  in  different  parts,  I  shall  probably  be  ex- 
posed to  similiar  applications  afterward,  I  think  it  right  to 
begin  with  you,  in  the  confidence  that  you  will  perceive  that, 
in  refusing  your  application,  I  do  it  on  proper  and  reasonable 
grounds. 

I  hope  that  your  society  will  have  a  happy  influence  on  the 
minds  of  its  individual  supporters.  If  so  much  zeal  and  activ- 
ity should  be  employed  in  the  work  of  sending  the  Bible  to 
others,  it  seems  quite  obvious  that  it  ought  not  to  be  neglect- 
ed for  ourselves,  or  suffered  to  lie  beside  us  unread,  unopened, 
and  unattended  to.  It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  think  that 
this,  in  all  probability,  is  the  effect  in  your  case  ;  and  one  great 
sentiment  with  us  all  should  be,  that  we  ought  not  to  think 
that  we  have  yet  attained  or  are  already  perfect.  The  ca- 
reer of  Christian  sanctification  is  boundless,  and  it  is  our  duty 
to  press  forward ;  and  when  one  looks  to  himself  and  feels 
his  woeful  deficiencies  in  the  mildness,  the  patience,  the  char- 
ity, the  holiness  of  the  Gospel,  he  must  perceive  how  much 
he  has  yet  to  aspire  after.  We  should,  at  the  same  time, 
never  forget  in  what  way  the  above  virtues  are  formed  and 
have  their  increase  in  the  soul  :  they  are  the  fruits  of  the 
Spirit,  Gal.,  v.,  22.  And  as  the  Savior  is  the  dispenser  of  the 
Spirit — as  it  is  through  faith  in  Him  that  the  Spirit  is  given 
— as  without  Him  we  can  do  nothing — hence  the  necessity 
of  laying  all  upon  this  foundation,  of  a  vital  union  with  Jesus 
Christ  by  faith,  that  He  may  be  our  sanctification  as  w^ell  as 
our  redemption. 

I  should  have  been  happy  to  have  heard  of  your  calling  on 
Mr.  Anderson.  I  got  a  letter  from  S ,  but  he  says  noth- 
ing of  it.  Could  any  prudent  or  effectual  method  be  devised 
of  bringing  S 's  mind  under  the  influence  of  the  truth,  it 


MR.  PATRICK  CHALMERS.  173 


were  most  desirable.  Give  your  attention  to  this  particular. 
There  is  a  danger  sometimes  in  the  imprudent  use  of  means  ; 
but  prayer  for  one  another  is  a  resource  which  is  always  at 
hand,  and  can  never  be  carried  to  excess.  Do  write  me  soon. 
Tell  me  of  your  numbers  in  the  Bible  Society  of  Peniouick. 
Give  me  all  the  information  you  have  about  other  parishes. 
It  will  be  a  wonderful  sum  if  the  parish  system  can  be  real- 
ized over  the  whole  country.  Grace  desires  her  kind  love  to 
you.     Yours  most  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers.* 

No.  CXLIV. 

Glasgow,  2d  September,  1818. 

My  dear  Patrick — I  received  yours  some  time  ago,  and 
yesterday  had  a  visit  from  Mr.  Thomas  Thomson,  with  whose 
appearance  and  conversation  I  was  much  pleased.  1  regret 
that  I  was  so  particularly  occupied,  it  being  a  day  of  meet- 
ings and  of  parish  business  with  me.  He  went  off  this  morn- 
ing for  Edinburgh.  I  would  not  have  known  how  to  address 
you  but  for  him;  and  I  am  glad  to  think  that  you  have  the 
opportunity  of  intercourse  with  such  a  family  as  that  which 
he  belongs  to. 

I  trust  that  the  impression  of  my  excellent  father's  death 
will  ever  remain  with  us.  His  meekness,  under  all  the  crosses 
and  provocations  of  life,  formed  a  most  memorable  trait  of  his 
character.  Above  all,  let  us  labor  to  emulate  him  in  his  ex- 
alted piety — a  piety  founded  on  the  faith  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment in  all  its  peculiarity  and  in  all  its  power.  I  hope  you 
will  read  his  favorite  authors,  Newton  and  Harvey,  but  still 
more  that  the  Bible,  accompanied  with  earnest  prayer  to  God, 
will  be  with  you  that  daily  exercise  which  shall  at  length 
make  you  wise  unto  salvation. 

Anster  has  now  become  sadly  different  to  me  from  what 
it  was.  I  now  feel  toward  it  as  if  it  had  sustained  a  fatal 
and  irrecoverable  mutilation.  The  remembrance  of  my  fa- 
ther's Sabbaths,  and  of  the  whole  routine  of  his  week-day  em- 
ployments, always  stood  as.?ociated  with  all  my  thouglits  of 


176  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


the  place ;  and  these  associations  are  now  irretrievably  broken 
up.  There  is  a  tender  melancholy  in  these  recollections. 
There  is  a  sorrow  which  Nature  herself  prompts  and  awak- 
ens, but  it  is  grace  alone  which  can  impart  the  godly  sorrow 
that  worketh  repentance  unto  salvation  never  to  be  repent- 
ed of. 

I  trust  that  you  will  give  all  your  strength  to  the  one  thing 
needful,  and  that  your  zeal,  and  earnestness,  and  integrity  in 
the  service  of  your  earthly  master  will,  in  fact,  with  you  be 
so  many  offerings  to  your  Master  in  Heaven — spiritual  sacri- 
fices unto  God  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord.  Could  the 
love  of  God  be  instated  in  our  hearts  in  its  rightful  supremacy, 
every  thing  else  would  find  its  right  place.  Enter  into  recou- 
ciliation  with  Him  through  the  atoning  blood  and  justifying 
righteousness  of  the  Mediator,  and  render  unto  Him,  as  the 
God  of  your  redemption,  the  fruits  of  gratitude  in  all  holy  and 
affectionate  obedience. 

I  shall  be  very  glad  indeed  of  an  occasional  letter  fn^m 
you;  and  be  assured  that  the  details  of  your  situation  and 
employment — accounts  of  the  neighborhood  and  country,  and, 
above  all,  the  news  of  your  spiritual  progress  and  welfare, 
would  be  highly  interesting  to  me.  I  am,  my  dear  Patrick, 
yours  most  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers 


LETTERS  TO  MRS.  MORTON. 


No.  CXLV. 

St.  Andrews,  6th  February,  1824. 
My  ever  dearest  Jane — I  should  have  written  you  long 
ago,  and,  indeed,  mean  to  write  you  at  a  rate  of  much  greater 
frequency  than  I  have  been  in  the  habit  of  doing  for  some 
time.  I  am  now  in  far  more  favorable  circumstances  for  do- 
ing so ;  for,  even  though  I  do  have  the  labor  of  an  extraor- 
dinary preparation  for  my  new  office,  yet  I  am  in  very  great 
ease  and  tranquillity  when  compared  with  the  bustle  and 


MRS.  MORTON.  177 


manifold  fatigue  of  my  former  occupation.  All  that  I  shall 
require  will  be  a  regular  exchange  of  letters  with  you,  and 
I  shall  regard  each  arrival  from  you  as  the  signal  for  an  im- 
mediate exercise  in  the  way  of  writing,  that  will  be  at  all 
times  agreeable  to  me. 

I  can  easily  leave  this  for  Anster  in  a  chaise  after  break- 
fast, spend  some  hours  and  dine  there,  and  then  return  in  the 
evening.  This  makes  a  very  pleasant  family — pop-in  to  my 
mother  and  aunt.  I  took  down  Mrs.  Chalmers  and  the  two 
eldest  children  in  this  style  on  New  Year's  day.  It  rained 
incessantly,  but  my  aunt,  notwithstanding,  insisted  on  our 
trailing  to  W.  Anster  with  her.  I  made  a  second  excursion 
of  the  sort  about  a  week  ago. 

We  keep  very  much  aloof  from  the  society  of  St.  Andrews, 
while,  at  the  same  time,  we  are  on  perfect  good  terms  with 
them  all.  They  are  very  convivial,  and  we  want  a  simple 
end  easy  intercourse.  Mr.  Duncan,  whom  you  may  recollect 
as  our  occasional  visitor  at  Kilmany,  is  now  professor  of  math- 
ematics, and  in  this  respect  is  quite  suited  to  us. 

Perhaps  there  is  no  town  in  Scotland  more  cold,  and  mea- 
gre, and  moderate  iu  its  theology  than  St.  Andrews.  I  do 
feel  the  Sabbaths  to  be  very  heartless  in  regard  to  the  public 
services,  and  Mrs.  Chalmers  half  threatens  to  be  a  seceder 
upon  our  hands.  I  will  not  hinder  her  ;  but  as  to  myself,  I 
do  feel  that,  bating  the  deficiency  of  warm  ministerial  ad- 
dresses from  the  pulpit,  I  ought  to  make  greater  progress  here 
than  at  Glasgow,  where  I  was  cumbered  with  many  things, 
Avhile  here  I  may  at  least  wait  upon  that  which  is  good  with 
far  less  distraction. 

I  am  more  persuaded  than  ever  of  the  nothingness  of  man, 
that  his  wisdom  consists  in  rehance  upon  God,  in  closing  with 
Him  as  his  reconciled  Father  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  casting 
the  whole  burden,  both  of  his  fears  and  of  his  corruptions,  on 
that  Savior  whose  blood  should  wholly  dissipate  the  one  and 
wholly  cleanse  from  the  other.  He  permits  us  at  times,  as 
He  did  His  disciples  of  old,  to  be  overtaken  with  a  storm,  and 

H  2 


178  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

even  to  have  the  visitations  of  terror  because  of  unbelief.     But 
His  voice  is  soon  heard  again — "  It  is  I,  be  not  afraid." 

Give  my  kindest  compliments  to  Mr.  Morton,  Elizabeth, 
Miss  Thomson,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Edkins,  Mr.,  and  Mrs.,  and  Miss 
Bliss.     I  am,  my  dearest  Jane,  yours  very  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CXLVI. 

St.  Andrews,  9th  June,  1824. 

My  dearest  Jane — I  would  have  replied  to  your  welcome 
epistle  very  soon  after  its  arrival,  but  it  came  on  the  eve  of 
my  setting  out  for  Edinburgh  to  attend  the  General  Assem- 
bly, the  bustle  of  whose  operations  prevented  me  from  attend- 
ing to  any  thing  else.  Be  very  sure  that  I  shall  punctually 
exchange  all  your  letters,  and  that,  too,  at  pretty  short  inter- 
vals. 

I  now  go  up  to  the  General  Assembly  in  the  capacity  of 
elder  for  the  burgh  of  Anstruther  Easter — an  honor  to  which, 
I  believe,  I  shall  aspire  yearly  ;  and  in  virtue  of  which,  it 
may,  perhaps,  please  God  that  I  should  endeavor  to  serve  the 
interests  of  his  Church  upon  earth.  We  lost  one  question 
this  year  in  the  Assembly,  but  we  gained  two  more,  and  the 
gain  far  more  than  outweighs  the  loss.  I  do  think  that  there 
is  a  very  great  improvement  in  the  spirit  and  temper  of  that 
body. 

I  never  was  more  convinced  of  the  benefit  of  my  transition 
to  St.  Andrews  than  on  my  return  to  it  just  now  from  Edin- 
burgh, where  its  tranquillity  forms  so  delightful  a  contrast 
with  the  fatigues  of  the  great  metropolis.  It  was  a  most  se- 
vere succession  of  one  pressure  after  another,  when  I  went 
from  the  General  Assembly  to  the  anxieties  and  the  manifold 
distraction  of  St.  John's  in  Glasgow. 

I  took  Anster  in  my  way.  Poor  Isabel  is  no  better  ;  but  I 
am  glad  that  Helen  is  with  her,  who  reports  most  favorably 
of  her  state  of  mind.  I  feel  a  most  unfortunate  barrier  in 
the  way  of  oral  communication  with  certain  of  my  relatives 


MRS.  MORTON.  179 


on  the  topic  of  religion.     But  I  write  her  an  occasional  letter, 
for  which  she  seems  grateful  and  well  pleased. 

In  less  than  a  fortnight  I  go  to  Glasgow,  and  am  to  spend 
six  weeks  there  in  a  course  of  ministerial  duty.  I  have  got 
a  vast  deal  of  labor  before  me  in  the  composition  of  my  lec- 
tures, so  that  I  fear  it  is  utterly  out  of  the  question  my  being 
in  Gloucestershire  this  summer. 

I  rejoice  to  hear  of  Patrick's  good  fortune,  and  also  of  your 
own  preferment  to  a  better  house.  May  you  long  enjoy 
health  and  comfort  within  its  walls.  Tell  Mr.  Morton  that  I 
do  not  envy  his  trusteeship,  and  I  fear  that  he  will  find  it 
land  him  in  a  peck  of  troubles.  It  is  no  doubt  honorable  to 
be  the  object  of  so  much  confidence  as  the  charge  implies, 
and  I  only  wish  he  may  not  find  it  at  length  a  very  harass- 
ing and  vexatious  one. 

But  let  us  look  beyond  the  toils  and  troubles  of  life  to  its 
latter  end.  I  have  recently  felt  some  very  vivid  gleams  of 
delight  when  thinking  of  the  sacrifice  by  Christ  for  our  sins, 
and  how  the  whole  guilt  of  them  is  removed  thereby.  Christ 
crucified  is  the  great  corner-stone  of  the  spiritual  edifice;  and 
the  more  simply  that  we  keep  by  this  truth,  the  more  shall 
we  breathe  of  that  pure  element  in  which  joy,  and  health, 
and  activity  are  most  felt.  I  need,  however,  to  be  saved  from 
constantly  relapsing  into  a  carnal  and  worldly  frame  of  spirit. 
We  need,  and  we  ought,  to  pray  for  each  other. 

Our  children  are  all  in  good  health.  The  weather  of  St. 
Andrews,  of  which  we  heard  such  formidable  accounts,  agrees 
remarkably  well  with  the  family.  Mrs.  Chalmers  desires  her 
best  compliments.  We  move  into  a  larger  and  better  house 
soon.     I  am,  my  dearest  Jane,  yours  very  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CXLVII. 

St.  Andrews,  20/A  August,  1824. 
My  dearest  Jane — I  should  have  replied  long  ago  to  your 
letter,  and,  indeed,  would  have  done  it  immediately,  had  it 


X80  CORRESPONDENCE  or  DR.  CHALMERS. 

not  come  to  me  in  the  midst  of  great  and  manifold  urgencies. 
I  was  then  in  Glasgow,  whither  I  went  for  six  Sundays,  and 
officiated  in  the  chapel  of  St.  John's.  I  think  that  I  never 
spent  a  season  of  more  crowded  occupancy  between  the  prep- 
arations of  Sabbath  and  the  expected  attentions,  of  which  I 
labored  with  all  my  might  to  acquit  myself  to  my  old  ac- 
quaintances. In  returning  home,  I  came  round  by  Anstruth- 
er,  where  I  saw  Isabel  somewhat  recruited  in  health,  though 
it  were  wrong  to  hold  out  any  intervals  of  ease  that  she  might 
enjoy  as  being  more  than  a  temporary  respite  from  a  state  of 
disease  which,  we  have  every  reason  to  fear,  is  incurable.  It 
should  make  us  the  more  thankful  that,  such  being  her  pros- 
pect on  this  side  of  the  grave,  her  prospect  on  the  other  side 
of  it  is  peculiarly  bright  and  peaceful.  You  know  that  she  is 
very  close,  and  with  me  she  has  been  quite  general.  But 
she  is  communicative  with  Helen,  who  represents  her  as  in  a 
very  happy  frame  of  spirit,  which  has  been  growing  upon  her 
from  the  commencement  of  an  illness,  of  which  she  very  ear- 
ly conceived  that  it  was  to  terminate  in  death. 

Since  I  came  to  St.  Andrews,  I  have  been  wading  through 
oceans  of  business  that  had  accumulated  during  my  absence, 
and  have  been  furthermore  pestered  a  good  deal  with  anoth- 
er odious  plurality,  that  we  have  done  our  uttermost  to  resist 
and  testify  against,  though,  we  fear,  without  any  success. 
During  the  whole  of  this  throng,  however,  I  have  never  lost 
sight  of  the  obligation  in  which  I  stood  to  reply  to  your  last 
communication,  nor  have  I  abated  in  the  least  of  that  regard 
which  I  entertain  for  you. 

And  if  the  principle  of  good- will  might  remain  entire  in  the 
bosom  of  a  friend,  although  he  does,  from  circumstances,  with- 
hold for  a  time  the  expression  of  it,  will  you  refuse  the  same 
justice  to  your  Father  who  is  in  Heaven  ?  All  the  sensible 
comfort  that  you  enjoy  may  be  regarded  as  some  such  token 
or  memorial  of  His  graciousness,  as  the  letter  of  an  acquaint- 
ance. But,  though  at  times  he  forbears  to  send  such  a  token, 
it  is  not  because  He  has  forgotten  to  be  gracious.     He  may 


MRS.  MORTON.  igi 


have  other  reasons  for  it.  He  may  wish  to  exercise  you  again, 
as  He  has  often  done  in  the  times  that  are  past.  Your  busi- 
ness, meanwhile,  is  to  be  still,  and  know  that  He  is  God  ;  to 
build  the  hope  of  your  safety,  not  upon  your  own  faith,  but 
upon  His  faithfulness  ;  to  look  outwardly  to  His  truth,  instead 
of  inwardly  to  your  own  deficiencies.  You  will  never  mend 
them  by  keeping  your  eye  in  the  direction  toward  yourself, 
but  toward  the  mercy-seat,  whence  grace  to  help  will  descend 
upon  you  as  well  as  mercy  to  pardon.  I  like  that  death-bed 
experience  of  Dr.  D  wight,  who,  when  asked  by  his  friends  how 
he  felt,  made  no  other  reply  than  that  there  was  mercy  in 
God  through  Christ  Jesus.  You,  at  least,  have  this  reply  al- 
ways to  make  under  all  the  variety  of  your  fears  and  your 
feelings,  and  you  have  just  as  full  a  warrant  as  any  other 
sinner  has  for  appropriating  to  yourself  the  benefits  of  the 
Gospel  mercy.  Your  fluctuations  do  not  affect  the  truth  of 
God  ;  and  if  you  will  stick  by  that  truth  under  all  the  clouds 
and  desertions  that  pass  over  you,  this  is  a  stronger  effort  of 
faith  than  if  you  only  kept  it  amid  the  smiles  and  the  bright- 
ness of  a  cheering  manifestation. 

My  visit  to  Glasgow  and  my  attendance  on  the  General 
Assembly  together  consume  at  once  one  half  of  my  summer 
vacation.  Both  I  deem  to  be  very  important  duties,  and  this 
year  they  have  only  left  me  three  months  for  carrying  forward 
the  still  very  unfinished  preparations  of  my  office  in  St.  An- 
drews. In  these  circumstances  I  could  not,  without  most  se- 
rious inconvenience,  attempt  Gloucestershire  this  season  ;  and 
this  inconvenience,  so  far  from  being  lessened,  is  in  my  mind 
aggravated  by  a  most  provoking  call  that  I  have  recently  had 
to  preach  a  sermon  in  Stockport.  I  had  said  some  civil  thing 
to  them  two  years  ago,  when  last  in  Manchester,  in  reply  to 
a  deputation  who  then  applied  to  me,  and  I  was  then  under 
the  imagination  that  it  would  quite  suit  me  to  be  in  England 
at  any  rate  at  the  time  of  the  anniversary.  My  circum- 
stances now  have  wholly  changed  ;  but  this  is  not  enough  for 
these  gentlemen,  who  call  what  I  said  a  nromise,  and  insist 


182  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

on  the  performance  of  it.  It  can,  at  most,  be  but  a  post-haste 
expedition,  within  a  fortnight  of  the  sitting-down  of  our  Col- 
lege, and  the  few  days  I  shall  give  it  in  the  month  of  Octo- 
ber I  can  very  ill  spare. 

This  letter  has  been  delayed  one  post  in  consequence  of  a 
visit  from  a  Prussian  clergyman,  who  came  in  upon  me  just 
after  I  had  got  this  length.  He  is  a  very  pleasant,  conversa- 
ble man,  but  it  is  with  the  utmost  fatigue  that  I  can  appre- 
hend his  broken  English.  Our  family  are,  upon  the  whole, 
very  well.  It  is  their  school  vacation  at  present ;  and  Mrs. 
Tennant,  with  three  of  her  children,  who  were  play  or  school- 
fellows of  ours  in  Glasgow,  are  now  with  us.  There  is  a 
bathing  process  going  on,  against  which  Grace,  in  particular, 
has  a  most  violent  antipathy.  I  think  it  might  be  of  use  both 
to  you  and  to  Isabel  were  you  to  write  a  letter  to  her.  I  do 
this  occasionally.  It  is  a  curious  thing  that  I  should  labor 
under  such  difficulty  in  speaking  to  people  whom,  neverthe- 
less, I  can  address  with  all  fullness  in  a  letter.  With  kind 
love  to  all  your  family,  believe  me,  my  dearest  Jane,  yours 
very  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CXLVIII. 

St.  Andrews,  23d  December^  1824. 
My  dearest  Jane — I  am  quite  ashamed  of  the  date  of 
your  letter,  but  I  have  been  much  occupied.  However,  I 
should  have  felt  the  impulse  of  poor  Isabel's  death,  and  sent 
you  off  my  first  and  recent  impressions  upon  the  subject. 
There  was  much  to  soothe  and  gratify  in  her  latter  end. 
Hers  was  a  striking  exhibition  of  the  Spirit  working  silently, 
yet  effectually,  on  whomsoever  He  listeth,  and  doing  His  own 
office  upon  the  heart  of  a  chosen  one  who  has  made  a  singu- 
larly quiet  passage  through  the  world,  and  of  whom,  I  can 
assure  you,  my  dear  Jane,  that  I  have  the  pleasing  belief  that 
she  is  now  in  heaven.  I  know  not  when  I  felt  so  much  grat- 
ification as  last  July  in  Glasgow,  on  receiving  a  letter  fiom 
Mrs.  Chalmers,  giving  an  account  of  a  day  that  she  had  spent 


MRS.  MORTON.  133 


in  Anstruther,  and  stating  both  what  she  saw  of  Isabel  her- 
self and  what  she  had  learned  from  Helen  respecting  her.  I 
hold  it  most  interesting  to  perceive  in  one  who  knew  naught 
of  the  controversies  of  our  faith,  yet  who  manifestly  had  great 
peace  and  great  joy  in  the  simple  reliance  of  the  faith  itself, 
to  perceive  how  all  the  blessings  of  the  Gospel  might  be  re- 
alized upon  such  a  one.  Never  was  there  a  more  patient 
sufierer  ;  and  the  evident  peace,  and  even  joy,  that  were  with- 
in, call  for  our  most  grateful  acknowledgments  to  that  kind 
Redeemer  who  suits  His  grace  and  His  light  to  the  trials  of 
those  who  are  His  own  children. 

Since  beginning  this  letter  (for  it  is  now  several  days  since 
I  began  it),  I  have  seen  your  letter  to  Helen.  I  grieve  to 
hear  of  your  ill  health,  but  sincerely  hope  that  Clifton  will  do 
you  good.  Have  you  met  with  my  friend  Dr.  Stock  there  ? 
Give  him  my  kindest  compliments,  should  you  see  him. 

We  are  going  to  spend  the  New  Year  at  Anster.  Poor  Isa- 
bel makes  a  blank  in  our  sadly  reduced  family.  My  mother 
has  much  of  the  comfort  and  complacency  of  a  well-experi- 
enced Christian.  Her  physiognomy  is  most  expressive  of  that 
abundance  of  peace  which  Isaiah  compares  to  a  deep  and 
mighty  river.  Never  was  there  a  more  cardinal  person,  or 
one  all  the  elements  of  whose  character  were  more  solidly 
constituted.  She  is,  I  am  confident,  ripening  for  heaven  ;  and 
it  is  my  desire,  though  I  miserably  fail  in  the  execution  of  it, 
that  I  shall  contribute  my  uttermost  to  the  peace  and  enjoy- 
ment of  her  remaining  days. 

It  was  quite  necessary,  in  point  of  repose,  that  I  should  leave 
Glasgow,  but  I  must  not  disguise  it  from  you  that  St.  An- 
drews has  its  tridls.  There  is  a  most  inveterate  hostility  to 
the  evangelical  spirit,  and  a  sad  public  corruption,  against 
which  I  have  hitherto  remonstrated  ineffectually.  Over  and 
above  all  this,  our  Sabbaths  are  truly  barren  and  dreary,  from 
the  miserable  lack  of  unction  in  pulpit  services.  I  have  taken 
up  a  Sabbath-school,  which  somewhat  supplies  the  want  to 
myself  and  my  family,  it  being  held  in  my  own  house,  and  at- 


184  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

tended  by  not  more  than  thirty  scholars.  I  was  greatly  de- 
lighted yesterday  by  a  passage  from  the  excellent  Halybur- 
ton,  who  bids  us  suspect  ourselves  if  our  zeal  runs  all  to  pub- 
lic, to  the  neglect  of  private  and  personal  Christianity.  My 
clear  line  is  to  give  all  my  force  to  the  latter  when  my  way 
is  so  hedged  up  against  doing  much  in  behalf  of  the  former. 
My  classes  give  me  some  precious  opportunities,  however.  I 
this  year  lecture  upon  both  Moral  Philosophy  and  Political 
Economy,  and  in  both,  particularly  in  the  former,  I  can  lift 
many  testimonies  on  the  side  of  the  Gospel.  My  students  I 
have  great  reason  to  rejoice  in,  being  both  well-educated,  and, 
many  of  them,  remarkably  well-disposed.  I  forgot  to  mention 
that  Mrs.  Chalmers,  under  the  destitution  of  evangelical  truth 
in  our  established  pulpits,  goes  very  often  to  the  Dissenters,  and 
incurs  some  obloquy  on  that  account,  which  we  care  not  for. 
Our  dear  children  are  all  in  good  health,  and  we  have  the 
advantage  of  a  first-rate  school  for  their  education. 

And  now,  my  dearest  Jane,  let  us  resolve  to  put  our  trust 
in  that  God  who  will  not  refuse  his  grace  and  guidance  to 
all  who  truly  seek  after  Him.  Let  us  linger  not  in  confidence 
to  Him,  seeing  that  He  himself  has  laid  the  foundation,  and 
invites  us  to  take  our  rest  thereupon.  In  the  quietness  and 
confidence  of  His  blessed  Gospel  we  shall  have  strength.  I 
am,  my  dearest  Jane,  yours  most  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CXLIX. 

St.  Andrews,  26th  February,  1825. 

My  dear  Jane — I  trust  that  we  shall  get  now  into  a  more 
regular  train  of  correspondence  than  heretofore  ;  and  nothing, 
I  assure  you,  would  give  me  greater  pleasure  than  if  we  could 
sustain  a  monthly  exchange  of  letters. 

I  was  sorry  to  understand  that  a  sort  of  discordant  politics 
had  got  in  among  the  families  of  the  coast-side.  But  for  all 
such  matters  I  refer  you  to  Helen,  than  whom  and  my  wife, 
when  they  do  meet  together,  I  never  witnessed  a  more  exclu- 


MRS.  MORTON.  185 


sive  brace  of  conversationists,  keeping  every  other  body  out 
of  the  concern,  and  sitting  apart  by  themselves  to  their  own 
dear  gossip,  to  the  utter  neglect  of  such  poor  outcasts  as  my- 
self or  any  others  that  happen  to  be  in  the  house  along  with 
them. 

Helen  will  probably  come  to  St.  Andrews  soon,  on  her  way 
to  Glasgow,  where  she  proposes  to  spend  some  time  with  Mrs. 
Charles. 

It  delights  me  to  observe  what  you  write  of  Patrick,  who 
is  a  very  cardinal  fellow.  I  rejoice  to  hear  both  of  his  health 
and  prosperity.  I  have  not  heard  from  James  these  many 
months.  When  there  are  long  intervals  of  correspondence 
between  us,  he  always  takes  it  into  his  head  that  it  is  I  who 
am  in  fault.     I  believe  that  it  is  very  generally  himself 

I  am  reading  just  now  "  Sheppard's  Thoughts  on  Devo- 
tion." I  understand  him  to  be  a  banker  in  Froine,  and  a 
great  friend  of  Foster's.  It  is  a  very  impressive  book,  and 
combines  two  elements  which  seldom  exist  in  union  togeth- 
er— great  science  and  great  spirituality.  I  would  recommend 
it  to  you  ;  it  is  much  prized  by  pious  and  intelligent  Christians 
in  this  quarter.  I  am,  my  dearest  Jane,  yours  most  truly  and 
affectionately,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CL. 

St.  Andrews,  llth  June^  1825. 
My  dearest  Jane — I  have  of  late  had  several  offers  to 
leave  the  University  and  return  again  to  the  Church.  I  had 
some  time  ago  the  offer  of  one  of  the  vacant  churches  in  Edin- 
burgh, and  yesterday  I  was  waited  upon  by  a  deputation  from 
Dr.  Gordon's  Kirk-Session,  with  the  proposal  that  I  should 
succeed  him.  But  it  was  not  upon  light  grounds  that  I  re- 
linquished the  clerical  for  the  professorial  life  ;  and  I  am  more 
and  more  confirmed  in  the  belief  that  a  chair  in  a  college  is 
a  higher  station  on  the  field  of  Christian  usefulness  than  a 
parish  any  where  in  Scotland.  Could  one  acquit  himself 
rightly  of  his  duties  as  a  professor,  it  is  incalculable  the  good 


186  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

which  might  be  done  to  the  guides  and  the  clergy  of  our  next 
generation. 

I  have  met  with  things  in  St.  Andrews  which  have  some- 
what helped  to  alienate  me  from  its  college,  but  not  from  a 
college  lile  or  college  occupations. 

I  rejoice  to  hear  from  you  of  the  Christian  good  that  is  do- 
ing in  your  neighborhood.  It  is  most  true  what  you  say,  that 
Christianity  has  a  most  refining  influence  on  the  general  habit 
and  manners  of  even  the  poorest  who  embrace  it.  In  the  case 
of  Sandy  Paterson  of  Kilmany,  it  transformed  a  clod-poll  into 
a  perfect  gentleman  ;  and  it  shows  that  a  delightful  society 
awaits  even  this  passing  world,  should  the  millennium  ever 
be  established  in  it. 

Mrs.  Chalmers  and  I  spent  some  days  in  Kirkaldy  lately, 
the  occasion  that  you  must  have  heard  of,  the  loss  of  Sandy's 
youngest  child.  Both  he  and  his  wife  were  in  great  tender- 
ness ;  and  in  each  of  them  there  is,  I  trust,  a  religious  feeling 
mixed  with  it.  What  a  blessing  should  they  henceforth  take 
this  direction  ;  and  what  a  lamentable  delicacy  it  is,  a  deli- 
cacy of  which  I  feel  myself  the  victim,  that  restrains  one  near 
relative  from  urgently  and  afTectionately,  and  in  season  and 
out  of  season,  being  instant  with  all  who  are  near  and  dear 
to  us,  that  they  should  be  up  and  doing  for  the  salvation  of 
their  souls. 

We  had  a  delightful  visit  two  days  ago  from  Mr.,  Mrs.,  and 
Miss  Babington.  They  left  us  this  morning.  He  was  the 
great  friend  and  coadjutor  of  Mr.  Wilberforce  in  Parliament, 
and  after  himself  being  a  member  for  thirty  years,  has  lately 
retired  from  political  life.  He  is  the  most  decided  Christian 
I  know — a  man  of  education,  judgment,  and  of  truly  engaging 
manners.  It  has  given  a  great  impulse  to  us  both.  I  got  ac- 
quainted with  him  while  in  England  about  two  and  a  half 
years  ago,  and  I  feel  myself  much  obliged  and  honored  by  this 
attention.     The  whole  conversation  was  quite  delightful. 

We  expect  shortly  a  visit  from  my  mother  and  aunt.  They 
will  come  up  in  a  chaise  and  return  to  Anster  in  the  evening. 


MRS.  MORTON.  i87 


My  mother,  indeed,  is  a  most  cardinal  person.  She  is  quite 
well  at  present.  James  Duncan's  wife  is  her  great  protegee 
just  now.  You  are  aware  of  her  manifold  trockifications  with 
the  poor  folk.  The  part  relating  to  her  which  is  to  be  most 
rejoiced  in  is  her  solid  and  well-established  confidence  in  God 
as  her  reconciled  father — a  confidence  which  ministers  the  ut- 
most peace  to  her  heart,  and  diffuses  a  calm  and  a  compla- 
cency over  the  whole  system  of  her  affairs.  I  am,  my  dear- 
est Jane,  yours  very  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CLI. 

Glasgow,  4th  October^  1825. 

My  dearest  Jane — Perhaps  I  am  never  in  more  unfavor- 
able circumstances  for  writing  at  length  than  when  perform- 
ing my  six  weeks'  campaign  in  Glasgow.  You  know  that  last 
year  I  preached  for  that  number  of  successive  Sundays  in  St. 
John's  Chapel,  founded  by  myself  ere  I  left  the  place,  and  this 
year  I  am  doing  the  same.  I  wish  to  maintain  this  habit, 
both  to  keep  up  my  intercourse  with  my  old  people  and  the 
exercise  of  preaching.  But  what  with  the  exuberant  hospi- 
tality of  the  one,  and  the  necessary  preparations  for  the  other, 
this  may  well  be  called  the  hurricane  season  of  my  year. 

You  perhaps  know  that  Mrs.  Chalmers  and  all  my  family 
are  with  me  on  this  occasion.  It  is  rather  an  unwieldy  con- 
cern, but  I  am  the  better  enabled  thereby  to  meet  the  de- 
mands of  my  very  kind  friends.  It  was  a  most  severe  per- 
sonal fatigue  when  singly  I  had  to  cope  with  all  the  invita- 
tions of  all  my  acquaintances  ;  but  now  I  can  divide  myself 
and  accept  of  them  by  proxy,  insomuch  that  at  present  I  have 
my  wife  and  a  bairn  with  myself  in  one  place,  and  a  servant 
and  two  bairns  at  a  second,  and  my  remaining  bairn  at  a  third. 

I  find  it  a  great  advantage  to  spend  my  mornings  in  prac- 
tical reading  rather  than  in  study.  My  present  book  is  "  Owen 
on  Spiritual  Mindedness" — a  book  which,  when  yon  have  per- 
fect leisure,  I  would  recommend  to  your  perusal.  May  the 
God  of  all  grace  and  goodness  perfect  your  recovery,  and  give 


ISS  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS 


you  many  days  of  comfort  on  earth  to  serve  Him  and  be  a 
blessings  to  your  family.  Believe  me,  my  dearest  Jane,  yours 
very  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CLII. 
St.  Andrews,  15/^  November^  1825. 

My  dearest  Jane — I  rejoice  to  observe  that  you  enjoyed 
Sheppard  so.  My  own  practice  is  to  read  a  little  before 
breakfast  of  some  practical  treatise  every  morning.  I  have 
already  told  you  of  several  books  that  have  thus  fallen  in  my 
way.  I  think  that  I  have  already  recommended  Romaine, 
and  I  have  now  very  great  pleasure  in  recommending  "  Owen 
on  Spiritual  Miridedness."  It  is  a  book  which  gives  palpa- 
ble directions  for  the  cultivation  of  this  grace  ;  and  I  trust 
that  I  may  derive  some  important  help  from  it. 

We  arrived  here  only  a  fortnight  ago,  having  protracted  our 
stay  in  Glasgow  as  long  as  college  terms  would  admit  of  it. 

Our  three  eldest  children  are  in  full  attendance  on  Mrs. 
Cowan — Anne  considerably  advanced  in  her  music,  and  giv- 
ing us  a  regular  afternoon  deavc  with  her  practicings;  Eliza 
fagging  as  she  can  at  French  and  Geography  ;  and  Grace 
learning  and  losing  her  spell-book  time  about.  I  am,  my 
dearest  Jane,  yours  very  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CLIII. 

St.  Andrews,  5th  January^  1826. 
My  very  dear  Jane — I  would  have  written  sooner,  but  your 
letter  expressed  a  wish  for  information  about  Anster,  so  that 
I  resolved  to  put  off  till  I  had  finished  my  new  New  Year'« 
visit  there.  The  excursion  was  to  me  a  very  interesting  one. 
Mr.  Bell's  assistant  of  Crail  came  for  me  in  a  gig  on  Friday 
the  30th,  and  took  me  down  there.  I  have  long  had  a  rev- 
erence and  affection  for  Mr.  Bell,  and  he  is  the  only  coastside 
minister  that  was  in  office  when  I  was  a  school-boy.  I  spent 
Saturday  and  Sunday  with  him,  having  preached  to  a  full 
church  in  the  afternoon.     On  the  Saturday  I  had  a  most  de- 


MRS.  MORTON.  isg 


lightful  walk  with  Mr.  Tod,  the  assistant,  from  Crail  harbor 
along  the  beach  to  Fifeness,  and  onward  to  Banderston.  We 
returned  by  Balcomie,  which  we  visited,  and  Pittorrie,  my 
grandfather  Hall's  house,  which  I  recollect  to  have  been  in 
when  I  was  in  frocks,  and  most  distinctly  recognized  the  room 
into  which  I  was  admitted  to  see  my  grandmother  forty-three 
years  ago.  There  was  a  dinner  given  by  Mr.  Bell  on  Friday 
to  all  the  clergy  of  the  neighborhood.  The  most  interesting 
of  whom  to  me  was  honest  cloghering  and  sniftering  Mr. 
Wilson,  who  is  still  cloghering  on.  I  made  calls  on  Miss 
Coldstream,  William  Cowan,  and  Lizzy  Hill,  a  servant  of  my 
mother's  thirty-six  years  ago.  I  left  Mr.  Bell  in  his  gig 
early  on  Monday  morning,  called  at  Barnsmuir,  where  Miss 
Fortune,  now  of  sixteen,  bears  a  striking  resemblance  to  her 
mother.  Christian  Rankine.  This  whole  road  was  to  me  full 
of  interest,  presenting  such  well-known  objects  as  Keplie 
Dooket,  with  the  echo,  Innergelly  avenue,  Third-part  avenue, 
Clishmacclash,  &c.,  &c.  I  breakfasted  in  Kilrenny  Manse, 
and  was  most  cordially  entertained  by  Mary  Forrester,  whose 
little  son  of  nine  weeks  old  formed  an  interesting  novelty  in 
the  group.  Got  to  Anster  early  in  the  forenoon.  The  chaise- 
full  came  down  from  St.  Andrews,  containing  my  wife,  three 
eldest  bairns,  and  Miss  Hutcheson  of  Glasgow,  now  with 
us.  I  settled  my  trust  accounts  with  my  mother  and  aunt ; 
they  are  both  at  present  remarkably  well.  We  had  to  leave 
them  before  tea,  from  the  darkness  of  the  weather  at  present, 
and  boisterous  wind  that  would  have  blown  out  the  carriage 
lights.  Helen  was  still  at  Lathallan,  but  she  has  come  to  us 
this  day,  and  proposes  to  spend  some  little  time  with  us. 

I  had  great  pleasure  in  hearing  from  Mrs.  Duff,  the  sister 
of  Dr.  Barron,  of  Gloucester;  of  your  visit  to  him,  and  of  his 
favorable  report  of  you.  I  sincerely  hope  that  you  continue 
at  least  in  tolerable  health,  and  that  you  are  enabled  as  here- 
tofore to  cast  your  dependence  and  to  feel  your  deh'ght  in  our 
all-kind  and  merciful  Savior  ;  so  free  of  access,  and  so  willing 
as  well  as  able  to  save,  even  unto  the  uttermost,  all  who  come 


190  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

unto  God  through  Him.     I  am,  my  dearest  Jane,  yours  most 
affectionately,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CLIV. 

St.  Andrews,  22c?  March,  1826. 
My  dearest  Jane — I  have  had  an  excursion  to  the  coast 
since  I  wrote  last.  My  mother  in  good  general  health,  and 
a  state  of  mind  which  is  truly  admirable.  Though  quite  by 
herself  now  (Helen  being  at  Kirkaldy),  she  is  never  without 
resources,  having  always  some  work  on  hand,  and,  to  use  her 
own  language,  God  is  very  kind  to  her  in  supplying  her  with 
many  a  comfortable  meditation. 

My  object  in  going  down  was  to  preach  at  Kilrenny,  which 
I  did  to  a  very  full  audience.  I  went  down  to  Anster  on 
the  Saturday^ — walked  to  Kilrenny  after  breakfast — preached 
there  in  the  afternoon — dined  with  Mr.  Brown,  and  walked 
in  the  evening  toBarnsmuir  with  Mr.  Fortune.  I  spent  the 
night  there,  and  he  drove  me  up  next  morning  in  his  gig  to 
St.  Andrews.  I  felt  great  interest  in  being  with  Mrs.  Brown 
(Mary  Forrester)  at  Kilrenny,  where  her  father  was  minister. 
The  pleasure  was  damped,  however,  by  the  recollection  of 
poor  Anne  Rankine,  who  lies,  with  her  infant  at  her  side,  on 
the  east  of  General  Scott's  tomb  ;  and  over  her,  in  the  church- 
yard wall,  there  is  a  marble  tablet  with  an  inscription  to  her 
memory.  There  is  no  slight  resemblance  between  Miss  For- 
tune and  her  mother ;  and  she  is  now  older  than  Christian 
Rankine  was  when  in  1799  I  was  first  introduced  to  Barns- 
muir. 

You  touch  on  a  matter  of  great  importance  and  great  ten- 
derness when  you  advert  to  the  religious  training  of  your 
children.  It  is  marvelous  how  obtuse  we  are  on  the  subject 
of  their  eternal  interests.  How  little  we  persuade  them  to 
the  things  which  belong  to  their  eternal  peace,  and  how 
little  we  pray  for  them.  It  is  a  sad  evidence  of  the  weakness 
of  our  faith  when  the  imperishable  souls  of  those  who  are  dear- 
est to  us  are  not  cultivated  and  not  cared  for.  I  am,  my  dear- 
est Jane,  yours  very  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 


MRS.  MORTON.  191 


No.  CLV. 

St.  Andrews,  12th  April,  1826. 

My  dearest  Jane — I  received  yours  in  course,  and  am 
truly  delighted  to  observe  that  you  are  in  such  health.  May 
your  soul  prosper  more  and  more,  and  be  in  health ;  and  amid 
all  these  intermediate  concerns  between  us  and  death,  that  is, 
the  interests  or  cares  of  a  present  life,  may  we  forget  not  that 
there  is  a  great  and  enduring  interest  which  overpasses  all 
and  absorbs  all. 

It  is  out  of  the  question  my  mother  going  to  England.  Mrs. 
Chalmers  has  asked  her  to  live  with  us,  and  there  is  the  most 
perfect  convenience  for  it.  Still,  however,  she  cleaves  to  An- 
ster,  and  will  not  leave  it,  she  says,  as  long  as  Chirsty  is  her 
servant.  There  is  a  peace  and  deep  serenity  about  her  spirit 
which  is  altogether  delightful ;  and  destitute  as  she  is  of  all 
teasing  curiosity,  I  am  quite  sure  that  whenever  she  consents 
to  come  to  us,  she  will  be  a  most  delightful  inmate.  I  really 
hope  that  such  an  arrangement  may  take  place  soon. 

My  practical  author  at  present  is  Howe.  The  book  of  his 
which  I  am  now  at  hand  with  is  his  "Redeemer's  Tears."  I 
never  read  a  sentence  of  his  works  before,  and  I  think  I  shall 
like  him  vastly.  He  is  more  lucid  than  Owen,  writes  with 
greater  taste,  and  is  often,  I  think,  more  striking,  if  not  so 
profound.  He  is  a  very  judicious  and  learned  as  well  as  pious 
author.  There  is  more  of  tenderness,  too,  about  him  than 
Owen.     I  am,  my  dear  Jane,  yours  very  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CLVI. 

-St.  Andrews,  ZOth  October,  1826. 
I  can  not  be  thankful  enough  for  Mrs.  Chalmer's  excel- 
lent recovery.  She  is  now  daily  a  few  hours  in  the  dining- 
room.  Her  attendant  has  been  one  of  the  Misses  M'Clellan, 
our  Helen's  sister-in-law,  who  makes  a  very  agreeable  inmate. 
Besides  her.  Miss  Collier  is  now  upon  a  visit  to  us.     You  may 


192  CORRESPO^'DE^XE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

remember  her  at  Dairsie.  She  is  a  very  decided  and  cul- 
tivated Christian,  and  has  lived  for  several  years  with  Mrs. 
Coutts.  We  are  much  the  better  of  an  influence  of  that  sort 
under  our  roof;  nor  am  I  aware  of  an  interest  of  greater  mag- 
nitude, or  that  should  come  nearer  to  the  heart  of  a  parent, 
than  the  Christianity  of  his  children.  I  hope  that  I  should 
prize  it  as  the  most  precious  indication  of  God's  friendship 
and  fatherly  regard,  that  He  visited  any  of  my  household  with 
such  demonstrations  of  their  sinfulness  on  the  one  hand,  and 
of  Christ's  sufficiency  on  the  other,  as  might  lead  them  to 
that  faith  by  which  they  are  saved. 

My  book  at  present  is  Baxter's  "  Saints'  Rest" — very  im- 
pressive. I  think  him  particularly  so  on  the  awful  and  af- 
fecting subject  of  our  responsibility  for  each  other's  souls.  I 
should  hke  more  of  courage  and  wisdom  in  the  work  of  dealing 
\vith  people  on  the  great  topic  of  their  eternity.  I  am,  my 
dearest  Jane,  yours  very  affectionately,     Thos.  Chalmers. 

No.  CLVII. 

St.  Andrews,  lOlh  January,  1827. 

My  dearest  Jane — I  have  lately,  connected  with  the  New 
Year  season,  made  two  distinct  visits  to  Crail  and  Anstruther. 
On  the  one  occasion  I  preached  at  Crail,  and  on  the  other  at 
Kilrenny.     When  at  Crail  I  visited  Mrs. .      .      .      . 

The  next,  or  the  Anster  visit,  was  still  more  interesting. 
Mr.  Fortune,  now  at  Barnsmuir,  sent  his  gig  for  me  on  the 
last  Saturday  of  the  year.  I  got  down  to  dinner,  and  met  a 
company  of  coast-siders — Mr.  Brown,  of  Kilrenny,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Wilson,  of  Anster,  Hall  Pringle  and  his  sister,  from  Lar- 
go, &c.  I  stopped  at  Barnsmuir  all  night.  The  two  eldest 
daughters  are  farther  advanced  than  were  Kirsty  and  Susan 
Rankine  when  I  first  knew  them,  and,  indeed,  have  a  very 
strong  resemblance,  both  in  mind  and  appearance,  to  the 
Barnsmuir  ladies  of  that  generation.  Miss  Fortune  is  now 
at  Leuchars,  waiting  on  Mrs.  Watson,  who  has  had  a  daugh- 
ter, and  is,  I  understand,  doing  very  well. 


MRS.  MORTON.  193 


On  the  Sunday  morning  we  walked  in  a  family  group 
from  Barnsmuir  to  Kilrenny — a  beautiful  day,  and  most  in- 
teresting road,  all  the  turns  and  objects  of  which  you  well 
know.  I  preached  in  the  afternoon  at  Kilrenny,  and  stayed 
all  evening  and  night  in  the  manse — interesting  from  the 
presence  of  Mary  Forrester,  who,  in  spite  of  her  "  twa  bairns," 
is  the  same  giggler  as  ever.  She  has  a  deal  of  genuine  hu- 
mor, and  is,  I  farther  hope,  in  the  way  of  receiving  good  im- 
pressions from  her  husband,  who  is  a  most  powerful  and  evan- 
gelical preacher.  The  monument  to  Anne  Rankine  and  her 
infant  child  in  Kilrenny  church-yard  is  a  very  interesting  ob- 
ject :  it  is  upon  the  north  wall,  a  little  way  from  General 
Scott's  large  mausoleum. 

After  breakfast  I  went  to  Anster,  where  I  found  my  moth- 
er trocking  among  wives — the  same  peaceful  and  independ- 
ent person  as  ever. 

This  narrative  has  occupied  more  room  than  I  intended.  I 
shall  therefore  conclude  with  a  remark  of  our  excellent  moth- 
er's ;  she  reads  a  good  deal,  and,  among  other  books,  "Owen 
on  Spiritual-mindedness."'  She  observed,  however,  that  she 
had  not  so  much  comfort  in  reading  those  books  which  led  her 
to  a  view  of  her  own  heart,  for  there  she  saw  naught  but  cor- 
ruption ;  but  she  found  great  satisfaction  from  trusting  in 
God.     I  am,  my  dearest  Jane,  yours  most  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CLVIII. 

Anstruther,  14th  February,  1827. 
My  dearest  Jane — Our  excellent  mother  died  this  morn- 
ing at  half  past  eight  o'clock.  She  was  entire  in  reason  and 
recollection  to  the  last  ;  and  though  she  lost  all  power  of  ar- 
ticulation within  an  hour  and  a  halt"  of  her  death,  yet  previ- 
ous to  that  she  gave  forth  many  tokens  of  her  solid  and  es- 
tablished trust  in  the  great  Redeemer,  and,  interspersed  with 
these,  many  wise  and  judicious  directions  relative  to  the  dis- 
posal of  ordinary  affairs. 

V.  I 


194  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

You  will  forgive  the  brokenness  and  imperfection  of  my 
present  narrative.  My  dear  wife  is  nursing  ;  and  though  she 
has  been  down  in  a  chaise  four  times  since  the  commence- 
ment of  the  illness,  yet  can  not  be  away  from  St.  Andrews 
for  a  night.  She  had  a  deal  of  precious  converse  with  my 
mother  yesterday,  who  really  was  in  a  state  of  great  ease  ;  but 
the  symptoms  of  approaching  dissolution  came  on  at  eight  at 
night,  and  became  more  and  more  aggravated  for  upward 
of  twelve  hours,  when  her  sufferings  were  ended. 

I  am  the  alone  occupant  of  the  house  in  the  mean  time, 
and  have  all  the  superintendence.  When  to  this  you  add 
that  I  was  up  all  last  night,  you  will  not  wonder  if  in  this 
first  letter  on  the  subject  of  this  great  bereavement  you  find 
me  so  hurried  and  so  unsatisfactory.  But  it  is  an  adequate 
subject  for  a  series  of  letters  ;  and  I  shall  be  most  happy,  in 
my  replies  to  your  future  communications,  to  amplify  on  the 
interesting  topic  of  our  dear  mother's  last  moments.  With 
kindest  regards  to  Mr.  Morton,  believe  me,  my  dearest  Jane, 
yours  most  truly  and  affectionately, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CLIX. 

St.  Andrews,  24th  February,  1827. 
My  dearest  Jane — Mrs.  Chalmers  and  I  were  again  at 
Anster  to-day.  I  had  gone  down  by  myself  yesterday  on  foot, 
she  came  this  day  in  a  gig,  and  we  got  up  together.  I  am 
still  engaged  among  the  details  of  business  ;  but  I  feel,  be- 
sides this,  an  indescribable  attraction  in  the  place,  softened 
by  the  tender  and  mournful  recollection  both  of  years  and  of 
people  that  have  gone  by.  David  Barclay  took  me  to  the 
church-yard,  where  I  visited  the  hallowed  spot  of  my  mother's 
fresh  and  recent  grave.  I  feel  strongly  inclined  to  inclose 
our  family  burial-ground.  It  is  bounded  on  the  south  by  a 
projecting  stone  that  comes  out  from  the  middle  of  the  east 
gate  of  Anster  church  :  that  stone  is  the  monument  of  Cap- 
tain Anderson,  a  remote  progenitor,  who  brought  home  in  his 


MRS.  MORTON.  195 


ship  the  wood  which  roofed  the  kirk  of  East  Anster  when  it 
was  first  built.  .  .  .  The  Chalmerses  have  just  been 
ninety  years  in  Anstruther,  and  after  the  death  of  my  aunt 
Jane,  there  is  no  further  prospect  of  our  being  connected  with 
the  place. 

A  day  or  two  after  my  mother's  death  I  wrote  down  a  few 
memorabilia  of  her  last  illness  :  this  I  shall  copy  over  in  my 
next  or  succeeding  letter.  I  would  have  done  it  at  present, 
but  my  visit  of  this  day  has  supplied  me  with  topics  which  I 
might  have  omitted  had  I  postponed  them.  Perhaps  my 
next  visit  in  a  week  may  supply  me  with  some  other  topics 
of  immediate  interest,  as  I  mean  to  rummage  her  scrutoire, 
where  I  know  that  I  shall  meet  with  some  records  of  her 
deep  and  devoted  piety.  I  have  already  met  with  a  most 
interesting  record  of  her  charity  in  a  small  paper  book  which 
she  appropriated  to  an  account  of  her  various  distributions. 
I  prize  it  as  the  best  of  legacies,  and  should  like  to  prosecute 
her  Anster  benefactions.  There  is  one  half  of  the  book  blank, 
and  I  mean  to  begin  where  she  ended.  I  feel  a  tender  and 
melancholy  pleasure  in  doing  so.  Believe  me,  my  dearest 
Jane,  yours  most  affectionately,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CLX. 

St.  Andrews,  \lth  April,  1827. 

My  dearest  Jane — I  have  been  again  at  Anster.  The 
business  I  expect  to  be  finally  settled  by  the  month  of  June. 
The  house  will  be  sold  by  the  beginning  of  May.  I  like  to 
recall  the  associations  of  former  years  by  taking  an  occasional 
night  in  it.     My  aunt  is  complaining  at  present. 

In  my  mother's  scrutoire,  which  I  have  opened,  there  are 
many  old  manuscripts,  and,-among  others,  the  birth-day  pray- 
ers and  dedications  of  the  last  years  of  her  life.  I  had  great 
pleasure  in  going  completely  round,  about  a  fortnight  ago, 
among  all  the  people  whose  names  occur  in  her  charity-book. 
These  amounted  to  eighteen,  and  I  left  with  each  of  them 
a  trifle  for  her  sake.     Maggy  Hutchison  was,  perhaps,  the 


196  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

most  interesting  of  the  cases,  who,  with  her  aged,  bed-fast 
mother,  Mrs.  Duncan,  are  breathing  the  atmosphere  of  con- 
tentment and  piety.  She  was  teaching  a  few  children,. and 
there  was  an  air  of  comfort  and  peace  in  the  dwelling.  I  have 
not  forgotten  a  characteristic  adage  of  hers,  uttered  at  Mrs. 
Wilson's  table  years  ago,  that  "Nature  was  easily  sufficed." 
My  book  at  present  in  the  mornings  is  Serle's  "  Christian 
Remembrancer" — a  highly  spiritual  performance.  Believe 
me,  my  dearest  Jane,  yours  most  affectionately, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CLXL 

St.  Andrews,  20^^!  October,  1827. 

My  dearest  Jane — I  enjoyed  very  much  my  visit  to  Ire- 
land, and  was  certainly  treated  there  with  great  kindness,  and 
received  many  honorable  attentions.  I  was  in  four  counties, 
Donegal,  Derry,  Antrim,  and  Down.  The  marine  scenery  of 
Antrim  is  the  finest  I  ever  saw  ;  and  there  is  nothing  which 
has  impressed  me  so  much  in  visible  Nature  as  the  Giant's 
Causeway,  with  the  precipitous  beach  on  both  sides  of  it. 

I  was  a  good  deal  pushed  by  the  kindness  and  attentions 
of  the  folks  at  Belfast.  Among  others,  a  person  wrote  me  a 
letter,  and  transmitted  along  with  it  his  album,  requesting  an 
insertion  from  me  there,  along  with  the  other  eminent  per- 
sons who  had  honored  it  by  their  hand-writing.  I  sent  it 
back  without  any  reply  ;  and  just  because  of  my  repugnance 
to  an  act  which  carries  with  it  the  consciousness  that  I,  too, 
must  be  a  very  eminent  man  like  the  lave  of  them.  It  is  a 
most  indelicate  request ;  and  I  do  think,  if  people  are  ama- 
teurs and  collectors  of  handwriting,  the  way  is,  just  to  get 
hold  of  any  scrap  of  a  card  or  letter  that  he  may  have  writ- 
ten to  another  upon  any  familiar  occasion,  and  batter  it  upon 
one  of  the  pages  of  the  portfolio.  It  is  really  too  much  to 
make  the  man  himself  accessory  to  this  sort  of  vanity.  You 
can  accommodate,  I  have  no  doubt,  your  friends  with  abund- 
ance of  ray  hieroglyphic al  scrawls. 


MRS.  MORTON.  igy 


Of  all  the  books  I  have  recently  read,  there  is  none  which 
has  delighted,  and,  I  hope,  impressed  me  more  than  Leigh- 
ton's  "  Commentary  on  Peter."  What  a  precious  thing  it  is 
to  get  a  fresh  and  powerful  impression  of  religious  truth. 
You  are  quite  right,  that  in  ourselves  we  neither  can  do  aright, 
nor  feel  aright,  nor  even  believe  aright.  Yet  that  should  not 
hinder  us  from  looking  in  the  direction  whence  help  cometh 
It  is  a  great  matter  that  we  are  encouraged  to  persist  in  the 
mere  attitude  of  icaiting.  We  would  be  in  the  right  and 
desirable  state  all  at  once.  But  it  would  appear  that  this  is 
not  the  way,  for  we  are  called  upon  to  seek  till  we  find  ;  to 
wait  the  Lord's  time,  who  in  due  time  will  raise  us  up  ;  to 
give  earnest  heed  to  the  word  of  His  testimony  till  the  day 
dawn  and  the  day-star  arise  in  our  hearts.  May  He,  who  is 
all  grace  and  good- will,  give  you  great  peace  and  joy  in  be- 
lieving, and  cause  you  to  abound  more  and  more  in  the  com- 
fort of  the  Scriptures  through  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
Believe  me  ever,  my  dearest  Jane,  yours  most  affectionately, 

Thomas  Chalmers, 

No.  CLXII. 

22d  November,  1827. 
My  ever  dearest  Jane — I  received  yours  of  the  16th, 
and  am  quite  grieved  to  find  that  you  are  still  the  invalid.  I 
know  that  you  are  in  good  hands,  and  it  is  my  prayer  that 
He,  who  can  cause  the  peaceable  fruit  of  righteousness  to  arise 
from  His  visitations  of  distress,  may  be  with  you  as  a  com- 
forter and  a  strengthener  on  the  present  occasion.  I  rejoice 
that,  in  the  midst  of  the  outw^ard  distress,  you  allege  a  hap- 
piness and  a  thankfulness  to  be  within.  It  is  certainly  a 
very  great  matter  of  gfatitude  and  rejoicing  when  God  is 
pleased  to  uphold  a  tranquil  and  even  happy  frame  in  the 
midst  of  outward  tribulations.  But  it  is  right  to  remember 
that  your  safety  does  not  even  depend  upon  this,  but  on  that 
kind  and  all-powerful  Savior,  who  never  fluctuates,  benig  the 
same  to-day,  yesterday,  and  forever. 


198  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

Fetch,  then,  all  your  supplies  from  Him  ;  lean  upon  Him  : 
do  not  even  make  a  fatiguing  work  of  so  leaning,  but  rest 
quietly  on  the  assurance  that  you  are  in  the  hands  of  one  able, 
and  as  willing  as  He  is  able,  to  sustain  you.  May  the  blood 
of  sprinkling  be  upon  your  conscience,  and  as  you  think  of  the 
full  and  finished  work  of  a  Savior's  atonement,  may  you  de- 
light yourself  greatly  in  the  abundance  of  peace  secured  to 
you  by  such  a  peace-offering. 

All  here  are  well.  Compliments  to  all.  Believe  me  ever, 
my  dearest  Jane,  yours  most  affectionately, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CLXIII. 

St.  Andrews,  Ath  March,  1828. 

My  dear  Jane — I  do  think  it  pertinacious  in  Mr. to 

keep  up  this  constant  annoyance  with  his  album.  When  it 
does  come,  I  shall  simply  transmit  it  with  my  inscribed  com- 
pliments, and  he  may  be  thankful  that  I  do  not  inscribe  fur- 
ther my  reprobation  of  the  system  of  albums,  and  the  dread 
in  which  I  stand  of  the  applications  of  album-holders.  It  is 
still  conipi'  etit  for  him  to  batter  my  line  to  you  about  him  in 
the  book,  if  he  so  chooses.  I  am,  my  dearest  Jane,  yours 
very  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

.      No.  CLXIV. 

St.  Andrews,  13th  March,  1828. 
My  dearest  Jane — The  album  came  to  me  by  Glasgow 
some  days  ago.  I  was  comforted  to  find  that  some  of  the  con- 
tributors had  written  texts,  which  I  have  done  too.  It  was 
not  your  joking,  but  their  pertinacity,  which  annoyed  me.  I 
am  always  pleased  with  the  ingredient  of  humor  in  your  let- 
ters. I  shall  have  an  opportunity  for  sending  back  their  al- 
bum to  Glasgow.  The  best  contributions  in  it  are  those  of 
Ohnlhus  Gregory  and  Hannah  More.  It  is  a  species  of  En- 
glish indelicacy  which  I  could  never  tolerate,  and  the  ladies 
of  that  land  are  particular  nuisances  in  that  way. 


MRS.  MORTON. 


199 


You  perhaps  remember  a  venerable  brown- skinned  folio 
that  my  father  used  to  read  upon  the  Sundays.  It  was  a 
complete  body  of  Boston's  works.  I  have  great  pleasure  in 
the  perusal  of  it.  It  has  formed  a  morning  reading  to  me 
for  some  time,  and  I  have  now  got  over  his  "  Crook  in  the 
Lot"  and  his  "  Fourfold  State,"  both  of  them  very  precious, 
and  the  latter  abounds  in  very  impressive  passages.  I,  of 
late,  have  betaken  myself  to  early  rising,  getting  up  every 
morning  at  six.  This  habit  will  be  of  great  use  to  nio  in 
Edinburgh,  My  chief  anxiety,  as  connected  with  that  place, 
is  on  account  of  Mrs.  Chalmers,  whom  I  particularly  wish  to 
protect  from  a  repetition  of  that  throng  and  pressure  to  which 
we  were  exposed  in  Glasgow.  Believe  me,  my  dear  Jane, 
yours  very  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CLXV. 

Edinburgh,  29th  November,  1828. 

My  dearest  Jane — I  am  now  in  a  more  amazing  bustle 
than  I  ever  was  in  my  life  ;  but  it  being  the  first  month  of 
my  residence  in  Edinburgh,  I  trust  it  will  subside.  I  have 
now  a  written  paper  in  my  lobby,  shown  by  my  servant  to  all 
and  sundry  who  are  making  mere  calls  of  attention,  which  is 
just  telling  them  in  a  civil  way  to  "gang"  about  their  busi- 
ness. If  any  thing  will  check  intrusion,  this  at  length  must. 
I  used  to  have  about  twelve  letters  a  week  in  St.  Andrews  ; 
I  have  now  upward  of  fifty,  so  that  I  must  write  you  more 
shortly,  though,  I  hope,  not  less  frequently  than  before. 

Erskine's  Essay  to  Baxter  is  one  of  the  best  things  he  has 
written.  His  last  work  on  the  "  Freeness  of  the  Gospel"  has 
made  a  great,  and,  I  trust,  a  salutary  impression  on  Mrs.  Chal- 
mers. It  is  exceptionable  in  regard  to  the  wording  of  sonie 
things  ;  but  altogether,  in  respect  of  principle  and  sul)stauce, 
is  unspeakably  precious. 

We  have  got  a  governess  from  St.  Andrews  for  a  few 
months  till  we  know  more  of  Edinburgh  ;   but  our  elder  girU 


200  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

will  take  lessons  from  without  by-and-by.     Believe  me,  my 
dear  Jane,  yours  very  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CLXVI. 

Penicuick,  11th  September,  1829. 

My  dearest  Jane — I  received  yours  of  the  1st  with  great 
tenderness  of  feeling-,  in  which  Mrs.  Chalmers  abundantly 
shared.  We  are  both  most  thankful  for  the  degree  of  recov- 
ery which  the  Father  of  mercies  has  been  pleased  to  confer 
upon  you.  He  knows  your  frame,  and  it  is  now  your  part  to 
possess  your  soul  in  peace  and  in  patience.  Rest  in  the  Sav- 
ior. He  likes  His  people  to  lean  upon  Him,  and  to  support 
them  when  their  strength  is  gone.  A  day  of  complete  and 
glorious  emancipation  is  coming,  when  they  who  believe  in 
Him  shall  be  loosed  from  their  infirmities,  and  sin  and  sor- 
row shall  be  alike  unknown. 

It  was,  indeed,  a  severe  family  visitation  that  we  have  been 
called  upon  to  endure.  There  is  no  death  that  has  more  sens- 
ibly moved  and  affected  me.  May  the  impression  be  lasting 
and  profitable  to  us  all.  The  poor  widow  is  bearing  up  won- 
derfully, and  God  will  care,  I  trust,  for  her  and  her  family. 
Believe  me,  my  veiy  dear  Jane,  yours  most  afTectionately, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CLXVII. 

Edinburgh,  6th  October,  1832. 
My  dearest  Jane — I  have  spent  a  day  with  the  Denbighs 
I  think  much  of  her  ladyship,  both  in  respect  of  sound  intelli- 
gence and  good  principles.  She  evinces  great  good  sense  in 
this — that  while  she  travels  in  Scotland,  she  selects  as  the 
appropriate  objects  of  her  inquiries  all  that  is  special,  and 
peculiar,  and  characteristic  in  Scotch  theology.  She  has 
been  in  quest  of  our  national  and  popular  authors  in  this  line, 
and,  besides,  interests  herself  with  the  old  points  and  passages 
of  our  ecclesiastical  history.  I  was  much  pleased  with  her 
conversation  as  a  whole,  but  with  one  drawback — felt,  I  be- 


MRS.  MORTON.  oQl 


lieve,  by  all  parties  during  more  than  the  first  half  hour  of 
our  being  together:  they  neither  underslood  readily  my 
Scotch,  nor  did  I  understand  readily  their  English.  In  this 
respect  of  mutual  understanding  I  am  far  better  off  with  the 
EngHsh  of  London  than  the  English  of  the  provinces  ;  and, 
accordingly,  for  several  hours  we  got  on  very  ill — I  a  barba- 
rian to  them,  and  they  barbarians  to  me.  However,  it  got 
always  the  longer  the  better,  especially  after  we  had  dined, 
and  after  the  whole  matter  was  closed  by  an  act  of  family 
worship  at  their  request,  I  retired  from  them  with  the  full 
impression  that  the  barbarous  people  had  treated  me  with  no 
little  kindness. 

Miss  Moreton  gave  me  a  sketch  which  she  had  made  of 
Mr.  Morton  —  far  the  most  vivid  resemblance  of  a  human 
head  and  face  that  I  ever  saw  done  with  the  pencil.  Tell 
me  if  you  would  like  to  see  it,  and  I  shall  send  it  to  you,  on 
the  condition  that  you  return  it,  as  Miss  Moreton  said  she 
could  present  you  with  a  similar  sketch  afterward.  I  showed 
it  to  Dr.  Welsh,  professor  of  Church  History,  and  the  most  en- 
lightened of  our  phrenologists.  He  pronounced  upon  it  as  a 
very  remarkable  head,  and  instanced,  more  especially,  activ- 
ity, with  great  shrewdness  and  intellect,  as  among  the  chief 
characteristics. 

If  you  had  any  anxiety  about  it,  I  could  get  Dr.  Welsh  to 
make  a  minute  study  of  Mr.  Morton's  head,  with  the  view  of 
drawing  a  character.  It  were  a  curious  experiment  as  to  the 
soundness  of  phrenology  as  a  science,  besides  being  interesting 
in  other  respects.  I  observe  that  Lady  Denbigh  has  some 
faith  in  it.  Ever  believe  me,  my  dearest  Jane,  yours  most 
truly,  Thomas  Chal.mers. 

No.  CLXVIII. 

\5lh  February,  1833. 
My  dearest  Jane — These  are  peaceful  times,  yet  not  such 
as  should  interfere  with  that  most  important  of  all  history,  the 
unseen  history  of  minds  reposing  in  the  faith  of  the  Savior, 

I  2^ 


202  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

and  ripening  for  heaven  under  the  operation  of  His  sanctify- 
ing grace.  May  such  be  the  prosperous  history  of  you  and  of 
yours  till  we  have  obtained  our  secure  establishment  in  the 
land  of  everlasting  quietness.  Believe  me,  my  dearest  Jane, 
yours  most  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CLXIX. 

Edinburgh,  27th  February,  1833. 

My  dearest  Jane — I  received  in  due  time  your  sprightly 
communication,  to  which  I  might  not  have  replied  so  soon, 
but  to  express  the  great  interest  I  feel  in  your  proposed  move- 
ment to  us  in  summer. 

Mrs.  Chalmers  was  greatly  amused  by  the  new  title  where- 
with you  have  dubbed  her.  I  confess  myself  to  have  been 
relieved  by  the  Irish  Church  Reform  Bill,  the  only  flaw  in  it 
(although  that  may  be  one  of  deadly  mischief)  being  the  sec- 
ularization of  the  sum  which  they  expect  from  the  sale  of 
Church  lands.  But  you  are  quite  right  in  possessing  your 
soul  in  patience  and  quietness  under  all  the  events  of  Provi- 
dence, assured  always  of  this,  that  God  reigneth.  Ever  be- 
lieve me,  my  dearest  Jane,  yours  most  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CLXX. 

Edinburgh,  6th  Jime,  1833. 
My  dearest  Jane — Since  writing  you  last  a  letter,  which 
is  probably  waiting  for  you  at  Cupar,  I  have  become  wretch 
edly  bilious,  and  must  make  another  retreat  into  the  country 
I  shall  go,  probably,  to  Kinghorn,  and  if  at  all  safe  or  right  for 
me,  I  will  venture  east  for  half  a  day  to  the  hot,  and  confined, 
and  dusty  town  of  Kirkaldy.  If  I  am  not  able  for  this,  you 
will  have,  I  hope,  the  candor  to  put  down  my  non-appearance 
there  to  its  right  cause — even  that  candor,  the  want  of  which, 
I  fear,  has  incurably  distempered  the  footing  on  which  I  stand 
with  some  of  my  nearest  relatives  and  connections  in  this 
world.     Oh,  when  will  the  system  of  human  intercourse  be 


MRS.  MORTON.  203 


left  to  its  own  free  and  spontaneous  workings,  and  cease  to  be 
a  constrained  and  hypocritical  interchange  of  jealous  exac- 
tions and  claims  of  attention  upon  the  one  side,  of  cold,  heart- 
less, and  formal,  but  reluctant  compliances  upon  the  other  ? 
Give  my  kindest  regards  to  Catharine,  and  ever  believe 
me,  my  dearest  Jane,  yours  most  truly  and  allectionately,  your 
bilious  and  beloved,  your  stomachic  and  sentimental,  your 
cholical  and  cholerical  brother,  who,  with  sincere  good-will, 
subscribes  himself  ever  yours,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CLXXI. 

Steamboat  between  Boston  and  Lincoln,  29//i  July,  1833. 

My  dearest  Jane — I  have  been  detained  a  week  longer 
than  I  expected,  and  it  will  be,  at  least,  the  middle  of  August 
before  I  reach  Scotland.  I  beg  you  will  write  immediately 
on  receipt  of  this,  and  let  me  know  your  movements.  My 
address,  if  you  will  write  soon  enough,  is  at  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Gray's,  of  Sunderland.  I  want  particularly  to  know  about 
what  time  you  purpose  to  be  at  Woodhouselee,  for  it  will  de- 
pend upon  this  whether  I  shall  go  first  there,  or  go  immedi- 
ately to  Kelton.  Few  things  would  give  roe  greater  pleasure 
than  some  quiet  day  of  converse  with  you  at  a  distance  from 
bustle,  and  where  we  could  talk  over  both  the  prospects  of 
the  future  and  the  recollections  of  other  days. 

I  spent  yesterday  at  Boston,  where  I  heard  two  very  cold 
sermons  in  the  church,  but  a  better  one  from  a  clergyman  in 
the  evening,  also  of  the  Establishment.  During  the  day  I 
was  called  upon  by  Mr.  Aitken,  formerly  of  Fife,  and  who  tells 
me  that  we  had  met  before  at  a  house  in  Gloucestershire  ;  he 
farms  in  the  neighborhood,  and  has  a  visit  from  Mr.  Morton 
when  he  comes  to  Spalding.  I  had  lost  my  recollection  of 
him— an  infirmity  that,  I  fear,  is  growing  upon  me.  But  we 
had  sufficient  points  ef  sympathy  in  his  being  a  Scotchman, 
and,  withal,  brother  to  George  Aitken,  an  old  parishioner  of 
mine.  He  introduced  his  son  to  me,  a  fine-like  lad,  who  is 
learning  a  business-  at  Boston. 


204  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

I  hope  I  am  legible  in  spite  of  the  dinnel  of  the  steam-boat. 
"We  are  now  approaching  Lincoln,  whose  lofty  Cathedral  has 
a  very  noble  appearance.  Our  passengers  come  chiefly  from 
the  fens — and  amphibious-looking  creatures  they  are,  with  a 
dialect  not  very  intelligible  to  me,  and  a  certain  degree  of 
shyness,  which  perhaps,  however,  it  is  natural  for  them  to  ob- 
serve toward  all  other  land  animals. 

May  the  God  of  all  comfort  stablish  you  more  and  more, 
both  ill  the  promises  and  precepts  of  the  Gospel ;  and  with 
kindest  regard  to  Catharine  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  M'Clellan,  ever 
believe  me,  my  dearest  Jane,  yours  most  truly  and  affection- 
ately, Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CLXXII. 

NoRHAM,  10th  jiugust,  1833. 

My  dearest  Jane — I  have  been  at  Berwick  to-day,  and  I 
am  now  at  a  place  eight  miles  up  the  Tweed  from  it.  I 
mean  to  work  my  way  to  Woodhouselee  from  this  by  the  line 
of  separation  between  the  two  countries,  and  always  studying 
to  keep  as  near  to  it  as  I  can,  with  one  foot,  if  possible,  in 
England,  and  another  in  Scotland.  This  will  bring  me  down 
Liddesdale ;  and  for  night-quarters  I  mean  to  chap  at  every 
manse-door  I  can  fall  in  with. 

I  am  only  sorry  that  I  shall  not  be  able  to  convoy  you  home- 
ward, but  I  will  be  able,  I  hope,  to  stop  with  you  at  Wood- 
houselee till  the  23d.  Give  my  kindest  regards  to  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  M'Clellan  and  Catharine,  and  ever  believe  me,  my  dear- 
est Jane,  yours  most  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CLXXIIL 

Penicuick,  2Ath  June^  1834. 
My  dearest  Jane — The  doctor  prescribes  for  me  one  con- 
tinued holiday  all  summer,  and  I  mean  as  much  as  possible 
to  take  his  advice.  It  were  well  if,  in  this  season  of  exemp- 
tion from  all  strenuous  effort,  I  could  find  my  rest  and  refuge 
in  God  as  the  strength  of  my  heart  and'  everlasting  portion, 


MRS.  MORTON.  205 


having  whom  all  the  enjoyments  of  a  world  that  passeth 
away  might  be  renounced  without  a  pang.  I  am,  my  dear- 
est Jane,  yours  most  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CLXXIV. 
Penicuick,  ^ear  Edinburgh,  25th  August^  1834. 

My  dearest  Jane — I  am  grieved  to  observe  by  your  let- 
ter of  the  10th  that  you  have  sutlered  so  much  lately  from 
ill  health.  Will  you  let  me  know  in  your  next  which  half  of 
your  head  it  was  that  felt  the  greatest  pain  ?  Any  peculiar 
symptoms  which  I  feel  are  on  the  right  of  my  head  and  side  ; 
but  of  late  I  have  become  more  confident  of  a  full  recovery, 
and  do  feel  that  its  holiday  summer  which  I  have  spent,  with 
its  exemption  from  fatigue  and  ease,  has  been  of  great  use 
to  me. 

I  am  much  interested  by  your  aspirations  after  a  nearer 
conformity  to  the  image  of  the  Savior,  and  I  desire  fully  to 
sympathize  with  them.  It  is  well  to  look  unto  Him  as  our 
example,  as  well  as  look  unto  Him  as  our  propitiation.  I  hold 
it  a  remarkable  expression,  and  a  remarkable  coincidence,  that 
in  both  of  these  capacities  He  is  said  to  be  set  fort  J i  to  us.  and 
set  forth  by  God.  What  a  two-fold  power  of  comfort  and  of 
direction  there  is  in  this ;  and  if  we  give  earnest  heed  unto 
Him  in  the  aspects  under  which  He  is  set  forth  unto  us,  we 
may  rest  assured  of  the  promise  given  to  those  Avho  hunger 
and  thirst  after  righteousness,  even  that  they  shall  be  filled. 
I  am,  my  dearest  Jane,  yours  most  affectionately, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CLXXV. 

Burntisland,  21th  December.  1834. 

My  dearest  Jane — I  have  come  here  for  a  few  days  dur- 
ing our  Christmas  vacation,  and  I  gladly  avail  myself  of  my 
first  country  holiday  to  answer  your  affectionate  letter  of  in- 
quiry. 

I  have  been  engaged  in  class-work  for  six  weeks,  and  have 


206  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

acquitted  myself  of  it  greatly  beyond  my  anticipations.  I  am 
much  thinner,  being  now  168  lbs.  weight,  whereas  I  at  one 
time  was  205  lbs.,  but  muscularly  I  am  as  strong  as  ever; 
and  as  to  my  head  symptoms,  noise,  hissing,  pulsation,  ac- 
companied with  numbness  in  my  extremities,  although  they 
continued  with  me  till  within  these  few  days,  I  am  marvel- 
ously  free  of  them  since  I  left  Edinburgh.  On  the  whole,  I 
think  that  even  my  head  is  knitting  with  greater  strength 
and  soundness  again. 

As  to  my  being  a  Tory,  I  am  certainly  a  Conservative, 
though  not  in  the  party,  but  in  the  general  and  ordinary  sense 
of  the  term.  I  believe  that  under  our  late  government  the 
country  was  drifting  fast  into  a  state  of  anarchy,  and  I  fear 
that  our  present  administration  forms  in  all  human  likeli- 
hood the  last  barrier — may  it  be  an  effectual  one — against  a 
tremendous  civil  war. 

But  to  pass  to  more  satisfactory  topics.  Have  you  read 
Owen  on  the  130th  Psalm  ?  This  is  my  last  great  work ;  and 
I  would  strongly  recommend  it  as  eminently  conducive  to  our 
establishment  in  that  way,  which  is  at  once  a  way  of  peace 
and  of  holiness.  I  am,  my  dearest  Jane,  yours  most  truly  and 
affectionately,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CLXXVI. 

Burntisland,  20th  October,  1835. 
My  dearest  Jane —  ...  In  the  hope  that  you  will  accept 
of  this  my  contrite  acknowledgment,  I  now  proceed  to  the  sub- 
ject which,  whatever  the  diversity  of  our  tastes  or  our  em- 
ployments may  be  in  other  things,  should  at  all  times  cement 
by  the  feeling  of  a  common  interest  those  who  possess  as  we 
do  the  doctrines,  and,  I  trust,  the  hopes  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ.  I  am  thankful  to  say  that  no  reading  so  occupies 
and  engages  me  as  the  biography  of  those  who  have  made  it 
most  tlieir  business  to  prosecute  the  sanctification  of  their 
souls  ;  and,  in  particular,  let  me  name  the  "Liie  of  Sir  Mat- 
thew Hale,"  lately  published  by  Williams,  as  also  Venn's  "Me- 


MRS.  MORTON.  207 


moir  and  Correspondence."  He  is  the  author  of  tlie  "Com- 
plete Duty  of  Man,"  which  I  am  now  reading,  and  which,  as 
a  practical  system  of  evangelical  doctrines  and  duties,  1  feel 
inclined  more  to  recommend,  as  a  family  book  for  the  adult 
sons  and  daughters  of  a  family,  than  any  I  know.  It  is  now 
becoming  a  deep  concern  with  me  "  to  watch  over  the  souls 
of  my  children ;"  and  we  both  have  so  strong  a  common  in- 
terest in  this,  that  I  can  not  refrain  from  mentioning  a  book 
which  you  would  do  well  to  encourage  the  perusal  of  among 
those- who  are  near  and.  dear  to  you.  I  ever  am,  my  dearest 
Jane,  yours  most  affectionately,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CLXXVII. 

Edinburgh,  ISth  February,  1838. 
My  dearest  Jane — There  should  be  no  such  word  as  for- 
giveness between  us.  You  altogether  mistake  my  feelings  if 
you  think  that  there  is  any  thing  to  forgive.  I  am  well 
pleased  every  time  I  receive  a  letter  from  you,  but  you  must 
not  think  of  tasking  yourself  to  such  an  exercise.  A  letter 
from  any  of  your  family  is  tantamount  to  a  letter  from  your- 
self, when  occupied  or  unwell,  which  I  am  sorry  to  think  you 
often  are.  But  bear  up  under  the  conviction  that  God  is 
faithful  as  well  as  merciful  to  forgive  all  who  apply  to  Him 
in  the  name  of  Jesus  ;  and  be  well  assured  that,  as  your 
fears  of  alienation  or  displeasure  on  the  part  of  your  earthly 
friends  here  turned  out  to  be  groundless,  be  assured  that  still 
more  groundless  are  your  apprehensions  of  displeasure  in  God, 
whose  darling  attribute  is  mercy,  whose  strange  work  is  judg- 
ment, and  who  rejoices  in  the  confidence  which  His  own  crea- 
tures rest  in  His  own  name,  as  the  Lord  God  merciful  and 
gracious,  long-suffering,  and  abundant  in  goodness  ami  truth. 
forgiving  iniquity,  transgression,  and  sin.  And  though  He 
says  of  Himself  that  He  will  by  no  means  clear  the  guilty, 
yet  has  He  found  out  a  way  by  which  He  might  at  once  be 
a  just  God  and  a  Savior— just,  yet  the  justifier  of  those  who 
believe  in  Jesus. 


208  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

I  saw  your  Alexander,  whom  I  love,  yesterday.  We  met 
at  the  church  door.  John,  who  Professor  Forbes  tells  me  is 
one  of  the  ablest  and  most  scientific  of  his  students,  has  lately 
added  skating  to  his  other  accomplishments  ;  and  when  I  saw 
him  two  days  ago  on  the  ice,  I  found  him  a  good  proficient 
in  that  part  of  education  also.  I  am,  my  dearest  Jane,  yours 
most  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CLXXVIII. 

Edinburgh,  3d  January^  1839. 

My  dearest  Jane — Our  place  is  not  EveJiingside.  It  is 
true  that  it  is  on  the  other  side  of  Edinburgh  from  Morning- 
side,  and  hence  the  denomination  which  I,  in  the  fertility  of 
my  genius,  chose  to  annex  to  it.  But  remember  afterward, 
and  address  me  at  Edinburgh,  as  the  brilliancies  of  invention, 
however  congenial  to  minds  of  a  high  order  like  yours  and 
mine,  serve  rather  to  bewilder  than  to  guide  the  prosaic  move- 
ments of  a  postman  or  letter-carrier. 

Our  family  are  at  present  in  tolerable  health.  Thomas 
Chalmers  Hanna,  my  grandson  of  a  year  and  a  half  old,  has 
been  with  us  for  some  months — a  delicate  skift  of  a  creature, 
but  a  great  favorite  notwithstanding  ;  the  object  of  a  very 
general  attention  ;  the  centre  of  a  circle  of  friends  and  ad- 
mirers ;  the  little  despot  of  an  establishment,  all  the  members 
of  which  do  him  homage,  and  are  subordinate  to  his  sway. 

I  trust  your  health  is  mending,  and,  above  all,  that  your 
soul  prospers  and  is  in  health.  Let  us  keep  on  the  foundation 
of  Christ's  grace  and  righteousness,  and  there  is  no  fear  of  us. 
I  feel  quite  assured  that  the  more  we  look  to  the  Gospel  in 
its  freeness,  the  more  shall  we  experience  of  its  sanctifying 
power,  of  its  present  salvation,  the  pledge  and  earnest  of  that 
future  salvation,  which  it  so  richly  offers  to  all  who  will.  I 
ever  am,  my  dearest  Jane,  yours  most  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 


MRS.  MORTON.  209 


No.  CLXXIX. 

KiRKALDY,  6lh  nApril^  1839. 

My  very  dear  Jane — I  should  have  replied  a  great  deal 
sooner  to  yours  of  January  the  9th.  I  have  only  this  week 
finished  the  labors  of  our  college  session,  where  I  am  very 
much  engrossed,  and,  even  at  the  best,  I  can  only  write  brief- 
ly and  generally.  I  saw  both  John  and  Elizabeth  very  lately. 
I  rejoice  to  hear  of  his  teaching  a  Sabbath-school.  His  is  a 
bright  order  of  talent,  and  it  is  a  great  blessing  when  men  of 
power  become  also  men  of  deep  and  decided  piety,  which  com- 
bination I  pray  God  that  your  son  may  realize.  The  stron- 
gest of  my  instinctive  likings  is  toward  Alexander — a  fine 
laddie-looking  fellow,  with  an  approach  to  a  "lint-tap,"  and 
at  that  age  of  tooth-shedding  w^hen  chasms  and  vacancies  oc- 
cur along  the  front  gums.  Every  thing  is  beautiful  in  its 
season. 

Part  of  my  family  is  now  at  Burntisland,  which  I  left  this 
morning,  and  am  now  with  my  father-in-law  at  Kirkaldy. 
Grace,  Mrs.  Hanna,  and  the  grandbairn  or  oy,  are  now  on  this 
side  of  the  water — the  last  mending,  the  two  former  colded, 
and  not  the  better  of  that  raw,  penetrating  east  wind,  which 
is  felt  so  severely  along  the  coast  of  Fife  at  this  season  of  the 
year.  That  easterly  haar,  by-the-way,  is  an  exception  :  it 
may  be  the  beneficial  result  of  w^ise  and  beneficent  laws,  but 
I  can  not  say  of  it  as  I  did  of  Alexander's  toothless  apertures 
— it  is  not  beautiful  in  its  season. 

My  kindest  regards  to  all — Mr.  Morton,  Catharine,  Anne, 
Lucy,  and  John.  May  they  rise  around  you  and  call  you 
blessed.  I  have  been  reading  lately  in  Fisher's  "  Marrow  of 
Modern  Divinity,"  a  tnily  refreshing  work,  full  of  the  free- 
ness  and  richness  of  that  blessed  Gospel,  which  holds  forth, 
on  the  footing  of  a  gift,  all  that  is  most  precious  for  sanctifi- 
cation  here  and  everlasting  salvation  hereafter.  I  ever  am, 
my  dearest  Jane,  yours  most  affectionately  and  truly, 

Thomas  CuAL^rERs. 


210  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


No.  CLXXX. 

KiRKALDY,  23d  October,  1839. 
My  very  dear  Jane — I  have  first  to  begin  with  an  affect- 
ing piece  of  intelligence,  the  death  of  Captain  Pratt,  my  fa- 
ther-in-law, which  has  brought  me  and  Mrs.  Chalmers  to  this 
place,  where  we  remain  several  days.  The  death  even  of  our 
most  aged  friends,  however  much  expected,  is  always  sure  to 
strike  and  to  solemnize  when  it  happens  ;  and  it  is,  indeed, 
most  marvelous  that,  familiarized  as  we  are  to  this  most  cer- 
tain of  all  events,  it  always  comes  upon  us  with  the  force  of 
a  new  lesson  which  we  had  yet  to  learn. 

I  have  not  seen  the  book  entitled  "  Union,  or  the  Church 
made  One,"  but  I  have  read  the  other  production  of  its  au- 
thor, entitled  "  Mammon,"  and  think  that  there  is  great  truth 
of  principle  in  the  work,  and  that,  too,  forcibly  and  impressive- 
ly propounded. 

I  have  been  a  great  traveler  this  year  (as  far  as  Suther- 
landshire),  and  been  acting  the  part  of  a  sturdy  beggar  in  be- 
half of  Church  Extension.  The  sum  realized  in  the  course 
of  my  itinerancies  has  been  about  X  14,000.  I  am  scarcely 
yet  recovered  from  the  exhaustion  of  these  efforts,  nor  do  I 
mean  to  repeat  them.  With  my  best  regards  to  Mr.  Morton, 
and  earnest  prayers  for  the  health,  and,  more  especially,  for  the 
spiritual  well-being  of  one  and  all  of  the  family,  I  ever  am,  my 
dearest  Jane,  yours  very  affectionately,     Tho.  Chalmers. 

No.  CLXXXI. 

Edinburgh,  15th  December,  1839. 
My  dearest  Jane — I  have  not  written  you  since  the  death 
of  our  poor  brother  James — a  touching  and  most  melancholy 
event — and  of  which  I  have  already  written  to  Helen,  it  hav- 
ing been  my  purpose  to  hold  a  special  communication  on  the 
subject  with  each  of  the  surviving  family  ;  but  the  bustle  and 
agitation  of  our  various  affairs  in  this  place  have  sadly  re- 
tarded the  execution  of  my  purpose. 


MRS.  MORTON.  an 


We  are  greatly  too  reserved  on  the  matter  that  principally 
concerns  us.  There  is  an  unaccountable  delicacy  in  speak- 
ing to  each  other  of  the  things  of  the  soul.  I  did  feel  that 
sensitive  repugnance  in  the  case  of  poor  James,  though  1  oc- 
casionally dropped  a  hint  or  intimation  in  writing  to  hini. 
Still,  I  often  had  my  compunctions  on  his  account,  and  there- 
fore you  can  imagine  the  interest  and  satislaction  1  lelt  in 
your  daughter  Anne's  letter,  where  she  spoke  of  the  confidence 
he  felt  on  his  death-bed  in  the  merits  of  the  Savior. 

Let  us  all  address  ourselves  to  Him  as  the  alone  refuge  and 
propitiation  of  sinners.  We  can  not  surely  trust  Him  too 
much  ;  nor  is  there  temerity  or  presumption  in  venturing  our 
all  upon  so  sure  a  foundation.  Let  us  not  fear  that,  if  our 
dependence  be  strong  enough,  we  shall  fail  in  our  prepara- 
tions for  eternity  ;  as,  the  simpler  and  stronger  our  faith,  the 
more  fervent  will  be  our  love,  the  more  abundant  as  well  as 
affectionate  will  be  our  obedience. 

I  grieve  to  hear  that  you  are  unwell.  Cling  with  full  re- 
liance to  Him  who  knows  how  to  save  us  ;  rejoice  in  the 
midst  of  tribulation  ;  feel  the  peace  and  assurance  of  that 
blood  which  cleanseth  from  all  sin. 

Give  my  kindest  regards  to  all — to  Mr.  Morton,  Catharine, 
and  all  the  family.  Tell  Anne  how  much  I  rejoiced  in  her 
letter,  and  that  I  shall  always  be  delighted  to" hear  from  her. 
Mrs.  Chalmers  unites  with  me  in  all  that  is  sympathizing  and 
kind.     Yours  most  affectionately,         Thomas  Ciialmer.s. 

No.  CLXXXII. 

Edinburgh,  2M  February,  1840. 
My  dearest  Jane — I  should  have  written  much  sooner, 
but  could  not,  under  the  suspense  and  uncertainty  of  dear  Al- 
exander's illness.  God  has  been  pleased  to  take  him  away 
from  you,  and  in  the  death  of  that  very  fine,  engaging  hoy, 
has  given  us  another  demonstration  of  the  evanescence  of  a 
world,  the  best-loved  objects  of  which  are  liable  to  he  k) 
suddenly  and  aflectingly  wrested  from  our  grasp. 


212  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

I  rejoiced  to  hear  from  Mr.  Morton  that  you  were  prepared 
for  the  decisive  intelligence  before  he  left  home.  Often  have 
I  thought  of  Mr.  Wilberforce's  remark,  that  the  faith  of  im- 
mortality gives  a  certain  firmness  of  texture  to  the  mind. 
Could  we  but  realize  our  future  and  better  world,  it  would 
lighten  the  effect  of  those  calamities  to  which  all  flesh  is 
heir  in  this  earthly  pilgrimage. 

I  was  glad,  though  only  for  a  moment,  to  see  poor  Eliza- 
beth on  the  day  of  the  funeral.  We  shall  be  anxious  to  hear 
how  she  and  Mr.  Morton  got  home. 

I  am  heartily  tired  of  public  life,  and  long,  if  God  be 
pleased  to  spare  me,  for  such  an  old  age  as  my  mother  enjoy- 
ed, as  if  at  the  gate  of  Heaven,  and  with  such  a  fund  of  in- 
ward peace  and  hope  as  made  her  nine  years'  widowhood  a 
perfect  feast  and  foretaste  of  the  blessedness  that  awaits  the 
righteous.  If  I  live,  I  shall  be  sixty  on  the  17th  of  March, 
entering  the  seventh  decade  of  my  life.  It  has  been  a  fond 
speculation  of  mine,  would  that  it  were  realized,  to  make  that 
decade  a  Sabbatical  one,  bidding  adieu  to  all  official  busi- 
ness save  that  of  my  professorship,  and  spending  the  remain- 
der of  my  days  in  the  studies  and  exercises  of  sacredness.  It 
greatly  enhances  my  desire  for  such  a  consummation  when  I 
think  of  the  bright  and  beautiful  serene  which  sat  on  the  even- 
ing of  my  mother's  life.  There  are  few  things  I  should  like 
better,  during  the  currency  of  such  a  latter-day  period,  than 
the  tranquil  visit  of  two  or  three  weeks  to  Chester  Hill.  "Rut 
let  us  not  dwell  too  confidently  on  these  visions  of  the  earth- 
ly future,  but  rather  look  forward  to  the  city  which  hath  foun- 
dations, whose  builder  and  maker  is  God.  I  remain,  my  dear- 
est Jane,  yours  very  affectionately, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CLXXXIII. 

Edinburgh,  20th  March,  1540. 
My  dearest  Jane — It  gives  me  real  gratification  and 
thankfulness  to  observe  the  support  which  you   experience 


MRS.  MORTON.  ,13 


from  the  hand  of  God  under  the  heavy  afHiction  that  He  has 
been  pleased  to  lay  upon  you.  He  knows  how  to  temper  His 
own  visitations,  and  how  delightfully  alleviating  must  be 
your  recollection  of  those  traits  which  mark  a  work  of  grace 
on  the  dear  object  of  our  regret  and  tenderness. 

I  have  now  entered  on  threescore,  and  desire  to  giv.e  up 
the  remainder  of  my  days  on  earth  to  a  busy  work  of  prepara- 
tion for  Heaven — a  w^ork  of  greatest  difficulty,  nay,  impracti- 
cable, wdthout  the  aids  of  that  Spirit  who  alone  can  help  our 
infirmities,  and  perfect  strength  in  weakness.  I  ever  am, 
my  dearest  Jane,  yours  most  truly  and  affectionately, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CLXXXIV. 

Burntisland,  26th  June,  1840. 
My  dearest  Jane — I  have  not  written  you  since  poor 
Mr.  M'Clellan's  death.  I  have  exchanged  letters  with  Mrs. 
M'Clellan,  and  1  am  glad  to  perceive  that,  though  greatly  dis- 
tressed, she  has  been  so  well  supported  under  the  heavy  visit- 
ation. Our  friends  and  contemporaries  are  fast  breaking  up  ; 
and  each  new  summons  will,  I  trust,  prove  a  useful  as  well 
as  an  affecting  memento  to  us  who  are  spared. 

Our  church  matters  are  in  sad  confusion,  owing  to  the  faith- 
lessness and  want  of  real  patriotism  in  public  men.  The  Whigs 
used  us  shamefully  ;  but  this  I  very  much  laid  my  account 
with,  and  have  therefore  been  still  more  chagrined  and  dis- 
appointed with  the  treatment  of  the  Conservatives.  I  have 
heard  that  all  is  fair  in  politics,  even  as  all  is  fair  in  horse- 
dealing.  It  is  truly  wretched,  however,  to  think  that  the 
morality  of  public  and  parhamentary  men  should  be  on  a 
level  with  the  morality  of  a  horse-market. 

I  mean  to  retire  from  all  public  business,  but  I  have  some 
closing  accounts  to  wind  up,  which  may  occupy  some  weeks 

yet. 

With  best  regards  to  you  and  yours,  I  ever  arn,  my  de;iii>t 
Jane,  yours  very  truly,  Thomas  Chalmefjs. 


214  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


No.  CLXXXY. 

Burntisland,  lAth  July,  1840. 

My  dearest  Jane — I  am  much  interested  by  what  you  tell 
me  of  the  Ducie  family  ;  and  knowing,  as  I  do,  Lady  Denbigh, 
I  should  like  to  hear  from  you  of  her  safety.  She  seemed  to 
me  a  person  of  great  sensibility,  as  well  as  of  great  intelligence 
and  worth. 

I  am  engaged  with  Mrs.  Chalmers  to  be  at  Dunkeld  on  the 
day  of  their  sacrament,  which  takes  place  on  the  first  of  Au- 
gust. After  our  return  thence,  it  is  possible  that  we  may 
have  to  go  to  Ireland  ;  but  this  is  not  altogether  determined. 
It  seems  we  held  out  some  hope  to  the  Hannas  of  Belfast ; 
but  I  do  trust  that  we  shall  not  miss  the  opportunity  and 
great  enjoyment  of  your  society  while  in  Scotland.  I  confess 
that,  as  a  chield  gets  aulder,  the  force  of  the  Scotch  proverb 
that  "  Bluid  is  thicker  than  water,"  is  felt  with  all  the  greater 
force  by  him. 

I  look  back  with  the  greatest  interest  on  the  history  and  char- 
acter of  both  my  parents,  and  particularly  on  the  days  of  widow- 
hood of  my  mother,  who  evinced  a  strength  of  Christian  prin- 
ciple throughout,  and  a  depth  of  peace  and  assurance,  settled 
on  the  merits  of  the  Savior,  which  are  not  often  equaled. 

I  mean  to  write  Helen  in  a  few  days  ;  and,  meanwhile, 
with  best  regards  to  Mr.  Morton,  Catharine,  Elizabeth,  Anne, 
and  all  the  rest  of  your  family,  in  which  Mrs.  Chalmers  joins, 
I  am,  my  dearest  Jane,  yours  very  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CLXXXVL 

Edinburgh,  23d  November,  1840. 
My  dearest  Jane — I  hope  you  would  receive  my  last  let- 
ter to  you,  which  seems  to  have  crossed  your  last  letter  to  me. 
I  did  not  advert  to  your  being  at  Cheltenham  till  Helen  here 
told  me.  She  is  in  a  quiet  and  complacent  frame,  and  alto- 
gether I  am  much  interested  by  her  visit,  as  well  as  by~the 


MRS.  MORTON.  215 


prospect  of  your  being  with  us  in  spring.  There  is  something 
affecting  in  the  thought  of  a  common  gathering  among  the 
members  of  a  once  numerous  family,  recalling,  as  it  were, 
their  scattered  forces,  and  meeting  together  once  more  ere 
time  shall  complete  its  work  on  the  remaining  few,  by  laying 
each  one  after  another  successively  in  the  dust.  With  earn- 
est prayer  for  God's  best  blessings  on  you  and  yours,  I  ever  am, 
my  very  dear  Jane,  yours  most  affectionately, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CLXXXVII. 

St.  Andrews,  11  th  April,  1841. 

My  very  dear  J.vne — You  will  be  surprised  at  the  date 
of  this  letter  ;  but  I  have  come  to  repose  here  for  a  few  days 
after  the  fatigues  of  the  session,  and  the  debilitating  effects 
of  my  late  influenza.  I  am  the  guest  of  Professor  Duncan, 
still  an  inveterate,  and,  I  fear,  hopeless  bachelor.  By  Octo- 
ber next,  we  shall  have  been  acquainted  for  fifty  years,  or  half 
a  century.  I  told  him  lately  that  when  we  were  first  ac- 
quainted we  were  •*  twa  callants,"  but  that  now  we  were 
"  twa  carls."  You  can  easily  imagine  the  delight  I  enjoy  in 
a  visit  to  my  own  university,  and  under  the  roof  of  an  hospi- 
tality as  free,  and  open,  and  easy  as  that  which  obtains  be- 
tween two  student  lads. 

I  like  Lady  Denbigh.  I  greatly  admired  both  her  sense 
and  her  piety  when  I  met  her  in  Scotland.  I  have  no  wish, 
however,  to  be  in  London ;  but  should  I  go,  1  should  rejoice 
in  availing  myself  of  her  xery  kind  invitation,  and  also  in 
coming  round  to  you  by  the  railroad. 

Let  me  know  particularly  of  Catharine.  May  the  Giver 
of  all  that  is  good  restore  her  to  your  wishes  and  prayers,  yet 
prepare  us  for  His  own  holy  and  righteous  will,  and  so  spirit- 
ualize our  hearts  that  their  affections  may  be  withdrawn 
from  the  world,  the  nearest  and  dearest  objects  of  which  ran 
so  speedily  be  withdrawn  from  us.  I  ever  am,  my  dearest 
Jiine,  \'ours  very  affectionately,  Thomas  Chalmlrs. 


216  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


No.  CLXXXVIII. 

Burntisland,  18th  May,  1841, 
My  very  dear  Jane — The  reason  why  I  did  not  express 
the  delight  I  shall  feel  on  your  visit  to  Scotland  is,  that  I 
waited  till  I  could  express  the  still  greater  delight  of  a  visit 
from  you  in  our  own  house.  When  I  last  wrote  we  w^re  a 
family  of  invalids,  with  no  less  than  four  of  us  occupying  each 
a  separate  apartment ;  but  now  I  have  reason  to  bless  God 
that  we  are  gradually  getting  better,  and  that  we  shall  have 
accommodation  both  for  you  and  Catharine,  with  a  method  of 
providing  for  Mr.  Morton  a  most  comfortable  night-quarters 
in  the  town,  when  he  comes  to  spend  days  with  you.  You 
we  expect  to  have  for  weeks,  or,  still  better,  for  months  ;  and 
as  sea-bathing,  I  understand,  is  good  for  Catharine,  I  can  as- 
sure you  that  this  is  the  best  bathing  quarter  I  know  any 
wh^re,  our  house  being  a  very  small  way  from  a  beach  of 
jfine  sand.  Mrs.  Chalmers  joins  me  in  the  earnest  expression 
of  our  joint  wish  that  you  will  accede  to  this  arrangement, 
and  we  shall  manage  to  have  Helen  over  too.  I  am  sure 
you  will  admire  the  beauties  of  our  scenery,  and  be  charmed 
with  the  kindness  of  our  small  and  simple  society,  made  up 
chiefly  of  the  Youngs,  who  are  the  magnates  of  this  place, 
and  related  to  Mrs.  Chalmers.  Our  children  begin  bathing 
in  June,  and  will  have  great  pleasure  in  joining  Catharine. 

I  mean  to  be  constantly  at  home  all  summer,  spending  it 
in  quiet  study,  after  having  renounced  all  the  bustle  and  pub- 
licity of  other  days.  It  is  a  favorite  speculation  of  mine,  that, 
if  spared  to  sixty,  we  then  enter  on  the  seventh  decade  of  hu- 
man life,  and  that  this,  if  possible,  should  be  turned  into  the 
Sabbath  of  our  earthly  pilgrimage,  and  spent  Sabbatically,  as 
if  on  the  shore  of  an  eternal  world,  or  at  the  gate  of  the  upper 
sanctuary,  in  the  outer  courts,  as  it  were,  of  the  temple  that 
is  above — the  tabernacle  in  heaven.  What  enamours  me  all 
the  more  with  this  idea  is  the  beautiful  retrospect  of  my 
mother's  widowhood,  all  of  which  she  spent  in  spiritual  enjoy- 


MRS.  MORTON. 


'Z\'l 


merits  and  in  deep  religious  peace.  With  her  the  season  of 
final  retirement  from  the  world  was  a  season  of  preparation 
and  piety,  and  I  can  image  nothing  more  impressive  than  my 
recollection  of  her  dying  scene.  May  we  die  the  death  of  the 
righteous,  may  our  latter  end  be  like  his.  With  best  regards 
to  Mr.  Morton,  Catharine,  Anne,  Lucy,  and  the  young  gentk-- 
men,  in  which  Mrs.  Chalmers  joins,  I  ever  am,  my  very  dear 
Jane,  yours  most  affectionately,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CLXXXIX. 

Burntisland,  'idth  August,  1841. 

My  dearest  Jane — I  am  grieved  to  find  from  your  letter 
that  Anne  is  so  poorly.  May  she  be  speedily  restored  to  health 
and  strength  ;  and,  above  all,  may  God's  will  be  our  will.  It 
is  good  to  be  reminded  of  the  precariousness  of  this  world's 
blessings  ;  and  surely  it  is  high  time  for  us,  in  particular,  to  be 
looking  heavenward  and  homeward.  There  is  not  a  better 
attitude,  I  believe,  both  for  peace  and  holiness,  than  a  quiet 
resting  in  Christ  as  the  Lord  our  righteousness. 

Catharine  left  on  Saturday  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  M'Clellan, 
and  my  brother  Charles.  She  is  now  at  Castlebank,  and  pro- 
poses to  go  to  Wishaw  and  Skirling.  She  did  not  just  take 
with  the  bathing,  and  it  is  thought  that  going  about  a  little 
may  be  of  service  to  her.  I  hope  to  see  more  of  her  here  also, 
for  Charles,  now  at  leisure,  can  conduct  her  to  us  at  any  time. 
I  have  not  seen  enough  of  her,  nor  talked  enough  to  her  ;  and 
I  can  not  sufficiently  lament  the  engrossments  which  have 
hitherto  dispossessed  better  and  higher  themes,  and  restrained 
my  converse  on  them  with  my  nearest  and  dearest  relatives 
more  than  it  ought  to  have  been.  I  have  seen,  however,  as 
much  of  your  Catharine  as  makes  me  like  her  very  much, 
and  think  highly  of  her..  She  is,  indeed,  a  great  favorite  with 
us  all  ;  and  I  do  hope,  that  when  she  comes  next,  she  will  find 
me  more  disengaged,  for  we  have  been  sadly  bustled  of  late. 
May  God  give  us  grace  and  wisdom  for  being  Christianly 
useful  to  each  other  in  our  journey  through  this  wilderness  of 
V.  K 


218  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


estrangement  both  from  the  light  and  love  of  heaven.  Best 
regards  to  Mr.  Morton  and  the  girls,  and  particularly  to  dear 
Anne.  All  here  unite  in  kind  remembrances.  I  am,  my 
dearest  Jane,  yours  very  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CXC. 
Burntisland,  29th  September,  1841. 

My  dearest  Jane — I  rejoice  to  hear  of  the  betterness  of 
Anne,  and  do  hope  that  all  these  family  trials  and  changes 
will  issue  in  the  spiritual  well-being  of  us  all.  Would  that 
we  could  make  them  subserve  our  discipline  for  eternity,  one 
of  the  most  essential  preparations  for  which  is  delight  in  prais- 
ing God — a  higher  acquirement,  I  do  think,  than  even  delight 
and  devotedness  in  prayer.  It  is  a  great  help,  however,  that 
in  the  exercise  of  praise  we  should  not  trust  to  the  mere  re- 
sources of  our  own  meditation,  but  seek  help  in  the  Bible. 
And  I  have  never,  I  think,  approximated  so  much  to  the  spir- 
it of  praise,  as  when  reading,  not  in  a  cursory  manner,  but 
with  intentness  and  fixedness  of  thought,  on  the  subjects  laid 
before  us  in  the  Psalms  of  David. 

The  archetypes  of  the  real  words  in  Scripture  will  serve 
us  better  than  the  conceptions  w^hich  come  at  will  or  random 
into  our  minds,  or  when  left  to  seek  for  them,  without  this 
aid,  by  dint  of  our  own  meditative  energies  alone. 

I  hope  we  shall  begin  to  build  in  spring.  If  God  be  pleased 
to  spare  us,  I  shall  be  delighted  to  have  a  visit  from  you  when 
we  enter  it.  We  are  at  present  in  the  bustle  of  preparation 
for  our  departure  to  Edinburgh,  whither  we  mean  to  go  by 
the  9th  of  October.     I  am,  my  dearest  Jane,  yours  very  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CXCI. 

Edinburgh,  12th  October,  1841. 
My  very  dear  Jane — That  is  a  very  precious  tract  which 
you  have  sent  me,  and  written,  too,  by  one  of  superlative 
talent,  though  not  overborne  with  the  drudgerioa  and  prep  a  r- 


MRS.  MORTON.  219 


ations  of  any  great  literary  office.  It  is  altogether  like  him- 
self; and  I  confess  that  I  like  to  see  a  vital  and  practical  sub- 
ject in  the  hands  of  such  a  man  as  Foster.  It  reminds  ine 
strongly  of  his  Preface  to  Doddridge's  "  Rise  and  Progress."' 

Dear  Catharine  left  us  yesterday.  She  is  a  universal  fa- 
vorite among  her  Scotch  relatives;  and  there  is  something  to 
me  most  beautifully  touching  in  the  quiet,  gentle,  and  unob- 
trusive style  of  her  piety.  May  she  be  preserved  a  comfort 
to  you  in  your  declining  years;  and  may  one  and  all  of  your 
children  rise  around  you  and  call  you  blessed.  I  rejoice  to 
hear  that  Anne  is  mending  so  fast.  May  her  and  our  souls 
prosper  and  be  in  health  ;  and  may  we  all  make  sure  of  the 
only  thing  worth  minding,  an  interest  in  Christ,  and  access 
through  Him  to  our  reconciled  Father  in  heaven. 

I  write  sparsely,  you  will  observe.  I  am  again  sunk  in  ar- 
rears, and  would  really  require  to  write  with  a  rail-road  speed 
by  means  of  a  fifty-horse  power  to  get  over  my  daily  work, 
with  six  letters  a  day  to  the  bargain.  I  ever  am,  my  very 
dear  Jane,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CXCII. 

Edinbtjroh.  3\st  December.  1841. 

My  dearest  Jane — I  expected  to  write  you  at  length  dur- 
ing our  holidays  ;  but  I  stayed  in  Edinburgh,  and  have  found 
myself  quite  overborne  by  its  senseless  and  ceremonious  calls, 
so  that  I  am  forced  to  get  through  my  twenty  or  thirty  un- 
answered letters  with  as  few  sentences  as  possible  ;  and,  for 
this  purpose,  I  am  now  skulking  in  another  house  than  my 
own. 

We  were  out  at  Castlebank  the  other  day  at  a  great  New- 
year's  festival ;  and  I,  as  being  now  the  patriarch  of  our  im- 
mediate relationship,  ^ive  the  New-year's  day  dinner  to-mor- 
row. Yesterday  I  was  at  Duncan  Cowan's  ;  and  he.  Alex- 
ander his  brother,  and  I,  formed  the  three  carls  of  the  party. 

My  best  regards  to  all.  What  a  rapid  flow  of  years  and 
seasons  !     May  we  learn  wisdom,  and  lind  our  way  to  Hmi 


220  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

who  alone  has  the  words,  and  who  alone  has  the  gift  of  life 
everlasting.  I  ever  am,  my  dearest  Jane,  yours  most  affec- 
tionately, Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CXCIII. 

Edinburgh,  19th  February,  1842. 

My  dearest  Jane — Your  letter  of  the  8th  of  January  has 
been  long  by  me  unanswered.  I  have  been  somewhat  on  the 
sick  list,  and  more  especially  from  want  of  sleep  for  several 
weeks  now.  Mrs.  Chalmers  and  I  went  this  day  week  to 
Castlebank  in  quest  of  sleep  for  me,  and  we  returned  yester- 
day. I  am  rather  better,  though  far  from  being  perfectly  re- 
stored to  the  use  of  my  sleeping  faculties. 

I  enjoyed  ray  visit  greatly  ;  and  when,  after  tea  and  supper, 
the  three  matrons  set  them  down  by  the  fire-side  to  their  re- 
spective stockings,  I  thought  it  quite  in  keeping  with  the 
quietness  and  domesticity  of  the  scene. 

We  heard,  while  at  Castlebank,  that  Catharine  and  Anne 
had  been  in  London.  What  a  precious  emollient,  amid  all 
the  varieties  of  human  distress,  is  the  faith  by  which  I  trust 
that  both  of  them  are  actuated.  And  what  a  mighty  acces- 
sion to  the  comfort  and  true  wealth  of  a  family  when  the 
Gospel  in  its  spirituality  and  power  makes  entry  within  its 
threshold,  and  operates  as  a  leaven  for  good  both  within  its 
own  limits  and  in  the  vicinity  around.  I  bethink  me,  when 
I  write  thus,  of  these  excellent  ones  of  the  earth,  Mrs.  Hes- 
kine.  Miss  Bliss,  and  Mrs,  General  Blackwell,  to  all  of  whom  I 
beg  you  will  present  my  cordial  and  respectful  acknowledg- 
ments. 

My  next  birth-day  is  coming  apace,  when  I  shall  have  en- 
tered my  sixty-third  year.  There  is,  upon  that  occasion,  a 
general  convergence  toward  our  house  of  the  immediate  re- 
lationhood  ;  and  I  look  for  the  families  both  of  Skirling  and 
Dunkeld  shortly. 

May  the  Lord  prepare  us  all  for  our  last  and  greatest  change. 
1  have  got  hold  just  now  of  one  of  Owen's  little  practical 


MRS.  MORTON.  221 


works,  which  greatly  interests  me.     It  is  upon  the  respective 
dominions  of  sin  and  grace. 

Give  my  best  regards  to  one  and  all  of  your  household.  I 
hope  John  is  enabled  to  prosecute  his  studies,  though  busi- 
ness, of  course,  must  first  be  attended  to,  and  full  acquittal 
made  of  it.     I  am,  my  dearest  Jane,  yours  very  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CXCIV. 

EoiNBrRGH,  17 th  March,  1842. 

My  very  dear  Jane — I  received  yesternight  your  very  af- 
fecting letter,  where,  however,  I  can  read  of  mercy  mingled 
with  judgment,  and  am  truly  glad  to  find  that  both  you  and 
dear  Anne  experimentally  know  what  it  is  to  rejoice  in  the 
midst  of  tribulations.  There  is  an  expression  which  I  think 
was  quoted  by  yourself  in  a  letter  of  many  years  back,  and 
which  I  think  singularly  applicable  to  the  present  state  of 
suffering  w^hich  God  has  been  pleased  to  lay  upon  you  both  : 
it  occurs  in  Deuteronomy,  xxxii.,  36  :  "  For  the  Lord  shall 
repent  Himself  for  His  servants,  when  He  secth  that  their 
power  is  gone."  He  will  have  respect  unto  your  weakness. 
It  is  not  willingly  that  He  afflicts  you.  He  will  cause  that 
when  you  are  weak,  then  you  shall  be  strong  ;  not,  it  may  be, 
by  the  removal  of  the  infirmity,  but  by  making  the  })ower  of 
Christ  to  rest  upon  you. 

How  delightful  the  attitude  in  which  the  pitying  Savior  is 
represented  to  the  eye  of  faith,  as  touched  with  a  fellow-feel- 
ing— as  having  been  Himself  tried  even  as  we  are — and  as 
able  (and  willing  as  He  is  able)  to  succor  them  who  are  so 
tried.  I  know  not  a  more  precious  expression  of  Hi.s  i'harac- 
ter,  did  we  but  realize  it,  than  that  used  by  the  apostle  when 
he  tells  us  of  the  meekness  and  gentleness  of  Christ.  Let  us 
cast  on  Him,  then,  both  the  burden  of  our  sufTcrings  aw]  our 
cares,  and  He,  not  permitting  us  to  be  temj)te(l  beyond  what 
we  are  able,  will  provide  a  way  of  escape,  that  we  may  b<; 
able  to  bear  it.      I  feel  much  obliged  by  the  effort  you  have 


V 

222  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

made,  under  illness,  to  inform  me  of  your  state.  Give  my 
best  regards  to  all  under  your  roof,  and  may  the  visitation 
which  has  come  upon  poor  Anne  prove  a  blessing  in  disguise 
both  to  her  and  to  the  family. 

I  send  a  tract,  written  by  a  former  student  of  mine,  which 
I  think  among  the  best  I  have  read,  it  lays  down  the  Gospel 
with  such  simplicity  and  freeness.  I  should  like  to  know  Mrs. 
Heskine's  opinion  of  it,  for  it  is  not  always  that  our  Scotch 
manufactures  are  adapted  to  the  English  taste.  All  here  join 
in  the  most  cordial  and  sympathizing  regards  to  you.  Be- 
lieve me  ever,  my  dearest  Jane,  yours  most  truly  and  affec- 
tionately, Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CXCV. 

DuNKELD,  2Sth  April,  1842. 

My  very  dear  Jane — I  have  written  both  Mrs.  Chalmers 
and  George  on  the  melancholy  event  of  Mr.  Weakner's  death, 
which,  though  I  never  saw  him,  has  interested  and  affected 
me  not  a  little. 

I  have  come  here  to  recruit  a  little  between  the  rising  up 
of  my  class  and  the  meeting  of  our  General  Assembly,  and  am 
greatly  delighted  with  the  beauty  both  of  the  weather  and  of 
the  scenery. 

I  have  assisted  at  Mr.  Mackenzie's  sacrament,  and  been 
much  pleased  both  with  his  ministrations  and  those  of  some 
of  his  auxiliaries — all  my  own  students — and  I  can  not  fail 
to  be  gratified  by  the  very  superior  and  more  effective  style 
of  the  pulpit  services  now  than  in  our  younger  days.  I  am 
quite  sensible  that  talent  is  but  secondary  to  piety — that  gifts 
are  but  secondary  to  graces  in  a  minister  of  the  Gospel,  and  I 
therefore  am  all  the  more  thankful  that,  besides  being  men  of 
power  and  high  scholarship,  very  many  of  our  young  preach- 
ers are  men  of  faith  and  prayer,  who  preside  at  fellowship 
meetings,  and  have  been  the  instruments  of  great  and  prom- 
ising revivals  in  various  parts  of  Scotland.  In  short,  amid 
all  our  troubles,  we  have  great  reason  to  thank  God  and  ro- 


MRS.  MORTON.  003 


joice  when  we  look  to  the  rising  generation  of  preachers  and 
young  clergymen  in  our  Church. 

Mrs.  Mackenzie  was  detained  by  bad  health,  and  is  still  in 
Edinburgh.  We  expect  her,  however,  to-morrow  (Friday). 
Our  main  family  anxiety  at  present  is  about  our  little  grand- 
son Tommy,  at  Skirling,  who  has  fallen  so  unwell  that  Mrs. 
Chalmers,  though  in  delicate  health  herself,  has  gone  to  Skir- 
ling, whence  I  wait  for  accounts,  in  which  I  am  much  in- 
terested. 

Give  my  best  regards  to  all  your  family,  and  more  especially 
to  Catharine  and  Anne — the  nurse  and  the  invalid — who,  I 
trust  and  pray,  will  be  sustained  in  their  respective  lots  by 
Him  who  is  a  very  present  help  in  the  time  of  trouble.  I  am 
sure  that  there  is  not  a  better  medicine  for  the  soul  than  di- 
rect intercourse  with  Himself  by  prayer.  To  his  care  and 
keeping  would  I  commit  you  and  yours  ;  and  may  He  verify 
on  you  all  His  own  blessed  declaration,  that  He  will  make  all 
things  work  together  for  good  to  those  who  love  God. 

I  am  delighted  with  the  acceptance  of  the  tract  I  sent  you. 
It  is  the  composition  of  another  of  my  students,  Mr.  Bonar,  of 
Kelso.     Ever  believe  me,  my  dearest  Jane,  yours  most  truly, 

Tho.mas  Chalmers. 

No.  CXCVI. 

RossTREVoR,  30th  July,  1842. 
My  very  dear  Jane — The  danger  of  my  present  situation 
is  not  of  being  spoiled,  in  the  common  sense  of  that  term,  but 
of  being  soured  and  irritated  by  the  turmoil  of  those  manifold 
calls,  and  nivitations,  and  urgencies  wherewith  I  am  contin- 
ually beset,  and  by  which  all  rest  and  freedom  are  denied 
to  me.  I  make  my  escape  from  this  in  a  few  days,  leaving 
my  family  for  a  week  or  two.  Whatever  the  lionizers  may 
imagine,  there  is  great  discomfort  brought  upon  the  lion,  who 
has  nothing  for  it  but  just  to  run  oil"  in  the  hope  that  both 
his  lioness  and  her  cubs  may  be  permitted  the  enjoyment  of 
Bome  comparative  repose. 


224  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

And  yet  the  kindness  of  the  people  here  is  truly  of  a  most 
genuine  and  heartfelt  description.  What  inspires  me  with 
this  conviction  is,  that  there  is  so  much  of  real  Christianity 
among  them.  Lady  Lifford — a  very  excellent  and  devoted 
person — comes  here  occasionally  for  summer-quarters.  She 
is  not  here  at  present,  but  she  has  been  a  leaven  for  good  in 
the  neighborhood,  and  the  savor  of  her  example  seems  to  have 
told  on  the  vicinity,  where  I  have  not  met  with  a  greater 
number  of  families,  within  the  same  compass,  in  any  mere 
country  place,  more  ready  to  entertain,  and  that  with  obvi- 
ously congenial  feeling,  the  best  and  highest  of  all  topics.  I 
have  refused  all  their  dinner  invitations,  but  go  out  in  the 
evenings,  which  generally  conclude  with  the  exposition  of 
Scripture  and  prayer.  I  ever  am,  my  dearest  Jane,  yours 
with  greatest  affection,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CXCVII. 

Edinburgh,  30th  November ,  1842. 
My  dearest  Jane — I  have  just  time  to  say  that  our  Con- 
vocation has  done  nobly,  and  that  400  good  ministers  are 
ready  to  cut  connection  with  the  Estabhshment,  should  no  re- 
lief from  the  effect  of  the  decisions  on  the  case  of  Auchterar- 
der  be  granted  to  the  Church.  I  ever  am,  my  dearest  Jane, 
yours  very  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CXCVIII. 

Edinburgh,  31  st  December,  1842. 

My  very  dear  Jane — I  was  myself  very  much  affected  by 
the  death  of  Lady  Denbigh,  yet  do  not  feel  that  I  have  a  suf- 
ficient opening  for  a  letter  to  his  lordship.  I  quite  agree  with 
you  in  thinking  of  her  as  about  the  most  amiable  and  esti- 
mable, and,  withal,  intelligent  Christian  I  had  ever  met  with. 

I  very  much  regret  to  hear  of  Anne's  continued  illness,  while 
Catharine's  slight  relief  is  matter  of  thankfulness,  though  I 
hear  from  other  notes  later  than  yours  that  she  has  aoajri 
relapsed.     I  very  much  sympathize  with  you  in  all  those  fam- 


MRS.  MORTON.  225 


ily  visitations,  and  pray  that  the  sweetening  and  sustain- 
ing influences  of  the  Christian  faith  may  be  so  with  yoii  as 
that  you  shall  be  enabled  to  rejoice  in  the  midst  of  tribula- 
tions. 

I  enjoy  Morningside,  and  on  no  account  more  than  that 
the  society  is  of  a  so  much  more  local  and  domestic  character. 
We  had  a  Christmas  dinner  from  Helen  on  Monday,  with  all 
the  relations  and  parish  ministers.  Yesternight  we  had  our 
cakes  at  Charles's  house  with  the  Cowans  and  others  ;  and 
to  me,  as  patriarch  now  of  the  whole  concern,  belongs  the 
New-year's  dinner  on  Monday,  when  the  whole  of  the  rela- 
tionhood  are  asked,  and  the  parish  minister,  with  his  new 
married  wife,  is  to  come,  and  Patrick  from  Wishaw,  now  at 
Merchiston,  stops  to  take  part  in  it.  1  remain,  my  dearest 
Jane,  yours  most  affectionately,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CXCIX. 

Edinburgh,  29th  January,  1843. 

My  very  dear  Jane — I  received  your  last  some  time  ago, 
and  after  that  a  very  beautiful  letter  from  your  Anne,  which 
gives  me  a  view  of  her  mind,  for  which  her  friends  can  not 
be  sufficiently  thankful.  .There  is  no  such  accession  of  riches 
to  a  family  as  that  which  is  brought  to  it  by  the  conversion 
of  one  of  its  members  to  God.  May  you  and  yours  abound 
more  and  more  in  these  spiritual  treasures.  I  can  truly  say 
that,  if  clearly  confident  of  all  under  my  roof  being  in  a  state 
of  grace,  I  should  feel  and  rejoice  in  it  as  a  nobler  inheritance 
than  all  which  this  vain  and  transitory  world  can  bestow. 

We  have  all  been  much  affected  by  poor  Miss  Edie's  death 
— a  most  gentle  and  amiable  creature,  and  latterly  a  most 
spiritual  and  decided  Christian.  The  last  message  to  my 
daughter  Eliza  atDunkeld  was,  that  "  to  die  is  gain."  The 
death  took  place  at  Dundee. 

I  beg  to  offer  you  my  very  cordial  and  sincere  congratula- 
tions on  the  prospects  of  dear  Elizabeth,  upon  which  I  shall 
not  expatiate  at  present,  as  I  mean,  if  God  will,  to  write  her- 
K2 


226  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

self  soon  upon  the  subject.      Ever  believe  me,  my  very  dear 
Jane,  yours  most  affectionately  and  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers 

No.  CC. 

Edinburgh,  9th  April^  1843. 

My  very  dear  Jane — We  have  at  length  got  into  our  new 
house,  and  vi^ithin  these  iew  days  I  have  given  up  my  class. 
But  another  heavy  v^^ork  has  been  laid  on  me,  that  of  Con- 
vener to  the  Financial  Committee  of  our  Free  Church,  so  that 
I  must  still  claim  the  privilege  of  an  engrossed  man,  and  will 
not  be  able  to  write  so  fully  or  frequently  as  otherwise. 

It  should  be  very  solemnizing  when  one  reflects  on  the 
nearing  of  death  and  eternity.  I  am  as  old  now  as  my  fa- 
ther was  when  I  was  ordained  the  minister  of  Kilmany.  Let 
us  be  awake  to  the  realities  before  us  and  above  us.  I  feel 
more  and  more  the  fundamental  and  all-pervading  importance 
of  faith.  Let  us  take  God  at  His  word,  and  we  shall  believe 
that  Christ's  blood  washeth  from  all  sin,  and  that  He  hath 
made  Him  sin  for  us,  that  we  might  be  made  the  righteous- 
ness of  God  in  Him.  With  confidence  in  these  sayings,  we 
shall  not  only  have  peace  and  joy,  but  all  the  principles  with- 
in us  of  new  obedience.  The  benefit  of  the  sacrifice  and  the 
gift  of  the  Spirit  are  inseparable. 

My  kindest  regards  to  Mr.  Morton  and  your  family,  espe- 
cially the  invalids.  Mrs.  Chalmers  has  been  very  ill  of  late, 
but  is  mending  slowly.  I  ever  am,  my  dearest  Jane,  yours 
most  afiectionately,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCL 

Edinburgh,  lAth  June,  1843. 
My  very  dear  Jane — You  would  have  been  struck  with 
the  contrast  presented  by  our  out-going  clergy  between  their 
anxious  and  woe-begone  aspect  before  they  had  taken  their 
decision,  and  their  perfect  relief  and  light-heartedness  after  it. 
Never  was  there  a  happier  assembly,  with  a  happier  coUec- 


MRS.  MORTON.  227 


tion  of  faces,  than  in  our  Free  Church,  with  consciences  dis- 
burdened, and  casting  themselves  without  care,  and  all  ihe 
confidence  of  children,  on  the  providence  of  that  Gud  who  nev- 
er forsakes  the  families  of  the  faithful. 

I  am  delighted  to  think  that  my  daughterhood  are  so  lie- 
roical  on  the  subject.  Rather  than  surrender  the  Christian 
liberties  of  our  Church,  they  would  live  all  their  days  on  doses 
of  porridge,  and  scud  herrfit  on  the  green  of  l>urnti.sland. 
There's  a  specimen  of  our  Scotch  las.ses  !  If  the  evangelicals 
of  the  Enghsh  Church  had  but  a  tenth  part  of  their  j)luck 
and  hardihood,  they  would  either  clear  their  Establishment 
of  its  Puseyism,  or  scatter  so  corrupt  a  hierarchy  to  the  winds. 
I  ever  am,  my  dearest  Jane,  yours  very  truly, 

Thomas  Ciialmer.s. 

No.  ecu. 

Edinburgh,  2\th  December,  1843. 

My  very  dear  Jane — I  grieve  to  hear  of  your  and  Anne's 
continued  illness.  But  a  realizing  sense  of  the  Gospel  and 
of  its  precious  comforts  will  make  up  for  all.  I  have  been 
reading  lately,  and  w^ith  the  greatest  interest,  certain  books 
on  the  Assurance  of  Faith,  which  are  full  of  comfort.  They 
give  substantially  the  same  doctrine  M'ith  Hervey,  in  his 
"  Theron  and  Aspasio,"  and  "Marshall  on  Sanctification" — 
great  favorites,  both  of  them,  if  you  recollect,  with  my  father. 
John  Newton  also  is  very  much  in  the  same  spirit,  and  so  are 
Boston,  and  Colquhoun,  and  Romaine.  Their  great  lesson  is, 
to  come  unto  Christ  as  we  are,  instead  of  waiting  for  qualifi- 
cations to  come,  which,  separate  from  Him,  we  never  can  ar- 
rive at.  The  proper  guard  against  all  abuse  of  this  doctrine 
is,  that  when  we  do  come,  it  should  be  for  a  whole  salvation, 
for  strength  as  well  as  pardon,  for  holiness  as  well  as  recon- 
ciliation with  God.  But  surely  we  can  not  too  soon  take  np 
M'ith  Him,  that  w^e  may  take  Him  along  with  us  in  the  pros- 
ecution of  this  holiness. 

But  the  great  security  for  our  being  right  is,  that  we  draw 


228  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


direct  from  the  Bible.  May  you  and  yours  have  the  full  en- 
joyment of  its  exceeding  great  and  precious  promises.  What 
a  precious  chapter  the  4th  of  Isaiah  is  !  I  feel  a  growing  in- 
terest in  the  Old  Testament,  where  we  have  the  truths  of  the 
Christian  presented  to  us  in  the  types  of  the  Jewish  dispen- 
sation.     I  ever  am,  my  dearest  Jane,  yours  very  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCIII. 

Edinburgh,  3d  March,  1844. 

My  dearest  Jane — I  have  been  sadly  remiss  in  writing 
you,  but  such  is  the  number  of  my  students  that  I  am  greatly 
overdriven.  I  have  about  three  times  a  greater  number  of 
first  year's  students  than  I  had  last  year  in  the  university, 
when  preparing  our  young  men  for  the  Established  Church. 
I  am  obliged  to  teach  two  classes,  and  the  whole  number  of 
my  enrollment  is  two  hundred  and  nine.  The  truth  is,  that 
our  Free  Church  has  given  a  great  impulse  to  the  ecclesias- 
tical profession,  and  young  men  preparing  for  business  have 
given  it  up  for  the  ministry,  and  these,  some  of  the  best  I 
have.  Altogether,  it  is  the  most  talented  and  intellectual, 
besides,  I  believe,  the  most  pious  and  devoted  set  of  students 
I  ever  had. 

Besides  the  ill  health  that  is  annoying  you,  the  transition 
which  you  are  on  the  eve  of  making,  away  from  the  situation 
that  Mr.  Morton  has  occupied  for  thirty  years,  forms  another 
and  a  distinct  trial.  But  there  is  a  rich  provision,  both  of  du- 
ties and  encouragements,  in  the  Bible  for  all  the  varieties  of 
human  experience.  How  precious,  for  example,  are  the  clos- 
ing verses  from  the  29th  to  the  end  of  the  6th  chapter  of 
Matthew.  He  who  says,  "  I  will  make  all  thy  bed  in  thy 
sickness,"  says  also,  in  effect,  "  that  as  the  day  comes,  the  pro- 
vision will  come."  I  believe  that  never,  since  the  day  that 
His  promise  was  uttered,  has  it  failed  of  accomplishment  to  a 
single  human  creature  praying  in  faith  that  it  might  be  ver- 
ified upon  him.     It  is  remarkable  how  our  Savior  restricts 


MRS.  M©RTON.  229 


the  period  for  which  He  allows  us  to  feel  thoughtful  within 
certain  limits,  and  forbids  us  so  to  feel  for  a  single  hour  beyond 
the  next  midnight,  Matt.,  vi.,  34.  But  it  deserves  to  be  re- 
'marked,  that  the  proper  translation  for  "  take  no  thougiit"  is 
"  be  not  thoughtful,'"  the  same  in  the  original  as  Phil.,  iv.,  G, 
"be  not  careful,"  and  it  is  so  translated  in  Matthew,  too,  in 
the  older  English  translations  of  our  Scripture.  We  are  al- 
lowed to  take  thought  on  the  subject  of  a  provision  for  our 
families  ;  nay,  our  not  doing  so  is  denounced  as  a  highly  crim- 
inal neglect,  1  Tim.,  v.,  8.  Only,  in  so  providing  and  cast- 
ing our  thoughts  onward,  we  must  not  sutler  our  minds  to  be 
corroded  or  distracted  from  God  and  godliness  by  an  excessive 
or  distempered  care  (1  Cor.,  vii.,  32),  but  cast  all  our  care 
upon  God  who  careth  for  us. 

The  upshot  of  this  w^hole  argument  is,  that  while  we  have 
no  warrant  to  pray  for  a  fortune,  or  for  more  than  what  is 
needful  for  the  body,  we  have  every  assurance  that  if  we  pray 
for  daily  breads — for  day  by  day  our  daily  bread — according 
to  the  faith  of  this  our  prayer,  so  most  certainly  shall  it  be 
done  unto  us. 

My  kindest  regards  to  Mr.  Morton,  Anne,  Catharine,  and 
all  the  others.  I  rejoice  in  the  success  of  John's  paper.  I 
ever  am,  my  dearest  Jane,  yours  most  affectionately, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCIV. 

MoRNiNGSiDE,  EDINBURGH,  \ 5th  September.  1844. 
My  dearest  Jane — My  illness  arose  from  over-occupation, 
and  I  have  been  forced  to  give  much  of  it  up.  Matters  were 
fast  hastening  to  such  an  attack  as  I  experienced  ten  years 
ago,  and  which  laid  me  aside  for  a  good  many  months.  I  am 
getting  greatly  better  of  my  retirement  and  repose,  but  have 
quite  the  feehng  that,  were  I  to  plunge  again  among  the  i-nd- 
less  details  and  tracasseries  which  have  so  engro.sst-d  mo  lor  a 
long  time,  I  should  just  be  where  I  was  again.  In  tluse  cir- 
cumstances, my  clear  pohcy  and  duty  are  to  take  thmgs  easily. 


230  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

Did  you  ever  see  one  of  the  Kelso  tracts  entitled,  "  Believe 
and  Live  ?"  I  have  mislaid  my  copy,  else  I  should  have 
sent  it  to  you.  It  makes  so  patent  the  perfect  freeness  and 
simplicity  of  the  Gospel,  it  would  confirm  you  much  in  the 
habit  of  which  you  tell  me  in  your  last,  when  you  say  you 
are  obliged  to  "  be  still."  The  little  work  I  speak  of  is  em- 
inently fitted  to  minister  great  peace  and  joy  in  beheving.  It 
supplies  you  with  a  basis  which  you  may  at  once  lean  upon 
— interposing  nothing  between  the  Word  of  the  Creator  and 
the  reliance  of  the  creature.  As  He  speaks,  so  you  believe. 
As  His  word  is,  so  your  faith  is ;  and  when  positioned  thus, 
then  do  we  experience  that  "in  quietness  and  in  confidence 
we  shall  have  strength."  Let  us  keep  fast  this  confidence 
and  the  rejoicing  of  our  hope  even  unto  the  end. 

Yours  very  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCV. 
Edinburgh,  Morningside,  17 th  November,  1844. 

My  very  dear  Jane — I  am  glad  you  have  read  the  tract 
'^  Believe  and  Live."  Some  complain  of  its  being  too  free  ; 
I  can  only  say  that  nothing  short  of  such  Gospel  freeness  as  it 
represents  would  come  up  to  the  exigencies  of  my  own  state ; 
nothing  short  of  the  appropriating  faith  which  can  say  that 
Jesus  loved  me  and  gave  himself  for  me — a  faith  which,  the 
stronger  and  more  assured  it  is,  wdll  be  all  the  more  fruitful  in 
grateful  and  devoted  obedience. 

My  session  has  commenced.  I  have  somewhat  less  to  do 
than  I  had,  but  my  strength  is  proportionally  less.  We  have 
all  been  laboring  too  much  in  the  Free  Church,  but  I  hope 
are  learning  wisdom  in  this  respect. 

Yours  very  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCVI. 
Edinburgh,  Morningside,  5th  January,  1845. 
My  dearest  Jane — I  have  deferred  too  long  my  reply  to 
yours  of  the  22d  November.     Let  me  now  send  you  the  re- 


MRS.  MORTON. 


»3l 


membrances  of  the  season,  and  the  assurance  of  my  earnest 
desire  and  prayer  for  you  and  yours.  We  are  all  in  average 
health  at  present,  only  Mrs.  Hanna  alarms  us  somewhat  by 
the  obstinacy  of  her  cold.  She  and  her  son,  little  Tommy, 
who  is  a  very  fine  fellow^  indeed,  spend  the  winter  with  us. 
I  was  truly  concerned  to  hear  of  Catharine's  illness,  and  shall 
be  interested  to  know  how  she  is.  May  the  repeated  intima- 
tions of  the  precariousncss  of  all  earthly  comforts  lead  us  to 
set  our  affections,  and  also  to  labor  and  pray  that  the  affec- 
tions of  our  children  may  be  set  on  things  above. 

I  am  reading  with  great  interest  a  recent  work,  "  Elliot  on 
the  Apocalypse."  It  is  a  learned,  and  critical,  and,  I  think, 
very  complete  work.  I  look  on  prophetical  studies  as  very 
confirming,  though  I  hold  as  of  first  importance  a  Bible  read- 
ing, and  practical  books  that  may  influence  the  heart  on  the 
side  of  practical  Christianity.  With  kindest  regards  to  Mr. 
Morton,  Catharine,  Anne,  Luc-y,  John,  and  Thomas,  in  which 
all  here  join,  ever  believe  me,  my  dearest  Jane,  yours  very 
truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCVII. 
Edinburgh,  Morningside,  ■ith  May,  1845. 

My  dearest  Jane — This  is  a  very  sad  and  sorrowful  be- 
reavement. Death,  though  long  looked  for,  is  always  sure  to 
strike  and  to  solemnize  at  the  last,  and  what  an  enhancement 
of  affliction  when  it  tears  away  the  object  of  a  long-cherished 
affection,  and  desolates  the  heart  under  the  breach  of  one  of 
the  nearest  and  dearest  of  all  earthly  relationships. 

I  was  greatly  moved  by  the  brief  effusions  both  of  your 
Anne  and  Lucy  on  the  mournful  occasion — different  in  char- 
acter, but  the  outpourings  of  such  a  grief  as  our  blessed  t>av- 
ior  hath  sanctioned  and  exemplified  in  His  own  person,  both 
when  He  wept  at  the  tomb  of  Lazarus,  and  when,  by  the 
mouth  of  His  apostle,  He  bade  the  disciples,  who  were  in  heav- 
iness from  the  loss  of  their  friends',  to  sorrow  not  even  a.'i  oth- 
ers which  have  no  hope.     And  what  a  precious  allevialion  to 


232  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

think  of  the  faith  and  piety  of  dear  Catharine,  of  whom  I  am 
thoroughly  persuaded  that  she  slept  in  Jesus,  and  so  has  add- 
ed one  attraction  more  to  the  place  of  glory  and  blessedness 
above.  May  we  who  are  left  behind  be  followers  of  them 
who,  through  faith  and  patience,  are  now  inheriting  the  prom- 
ises ;  and  may  the  sorrow  of  nature  be  ripened  and  transform- 
ed into  that  godly  sorrow,  which  worketh  repentance  unto  sal- 
vation never  to  be  repented  of. 

I  have  often  spoken  of  it  as  a  signal  instance  of  God's  for- 
bearance and  mercy,  that,  though  now  in  the  thirty-third  year 
of  my  family  life.  He  has  been  pleased  to  spare  me  hitherto 
the  pain  of  a  family  death,  none  such  having  yet  occurred 
in  a  single  instance  within  the  limits  of  my  own  household, 
even,  indeed,  since  I  was  the  master  of  a  house,  which  is  for- 
ty-two years  ago,  having  entered  the  manse  of  Kilmany  in 
May,  1803.  What  a  fearful  reckoning  and  responsibility  does 
this  bring  me  under.  Let  me  no  longer  despise  the  forbear- 
ance and  long-suffering  of  God  ;  but,  watching  over  the  souls 
of  those  for  whom  I  have  to  account,  let  us  henceforth,  both  for 
them  and  for  ourselves,  labor  to  realize  an  interest  in  Him 
who  alone  hath  the  words,  and  who  alone  hath  the  gift  of 
life  everlasting. 

This  sad  event  has  saddened  and  solemnized  all  the  rela- 
tionship here.  Grace,  I  know,  will  be  greatly  afiected  by  it. 
She  left  us  a  few  days  ago,  along  with  Fanny,  and  they  are 
now  at  Fairley,  in  Ayrshire.  Mrs.  Hanna  is  in  that  neigh- 
borhood at  present,  and,  in  the  mean  time,  better.  But  both 
she  and  Eliza  have  had  symptoms  which  make  me  feel  the 
precariousness  of  all  that  is  earthly.  Indeed,  my  own  person- 
al feelings  ought  to  be  sufficient  remembrances  for  me.  I  am 
now  more  than  halfway  from  sixty  to  seventy,  and  certain  it 
is  that,  though  free  of  any  specific  complaint,  there  has  been 
a  general  decay  of  strength  during  the  last  year,  which  tells 
me  that  1  should  forthwith  set  my  house  in  order  and  be  in 
readiness  for  the  coming  of  the  Lord. 

But  this  readiness  is  a  duty  which  lies  upon  all,  of  every 


MRS.  MORTON.  233 


age  and  condition  ;  and  may  the  death  over  which  we  have 

been  called  to  mourn  bring  the  lesson  ibrcibly  home  to  us. 
May  the  event  be  sanctified  and  blessed  to  all  your  lannly. 
Though  in  itself  not  joyous,  but  grievous,  may  it  yield  to  you 
and  yours  the  peaceable  fruits  of  righteousness.  Let  us  stand, 
my  dear  Jane,  more  disengaged  than  ever  from  a  world  tiiut 
will  soon  pass  away  ;  and  with  the  feeling  that  we  are  stran- 
gers and  pilgrims  here,  let  our  doings  plainly  declare  tliat  we 
seek  a  country  beyond  the  grave — that  our  aflections  are  set 
on  the  things  which  are  above — that  we  are  looking  forward 
to  a  city  which  hath  foundations,  whose  builder  and  maker  is 
God.  Ever  believe  me,  my  very  dear  Jane,  yours  most  af- 
fectionately and  truly,  ThoxMas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCVIII. 

Edinburgu,  I9th  October^  1845. 

My  dearest  Jane — I  observe  from  your  letter  of  the  1st 
that  you  still  dwell  on  the  thoughts  of  your  dear  Catharine, 
and  1  would  not  forbid  this,  mellowed  and  mixed  up  as  these 
thoughts  are  with  the  sustaining  hope  that  you  will  meet  her 
again.  The  Gospel  does  not  lay  an  interdict  upon  your  sor- 
row, though  it  would  dissuade  you  against  being  swallowed 
up  of  too  much  grief  But  you  have  fled  to  the  best  refuge  ; 
and  He  who  is  touched  with  the  fellow-feeling  of  our  infirmi- 
ties, knows  how  to  adapt  His  succor  to  the  necessities  of  all 
who  trust  in  Him.  It  is  a  shifting  world,  and  I  see  more 
and  more  of  its  vanity  and  precariousness.  I  can  understand 
the  sentiment  of  Job,  that  I  would  not  hve  alway  ;  that  is, 
alway  here.  The  old  patriarch  knew  that  his  Redeemer  liv- 
eth  ;  and  let  us  comfort  ourselves  with  the  blessed  assurance 
that,  because  He  liveth,  we  shall  live  also.  Let  us  verify  the 
experience  of  the  apostle,  who  said  that  "  Christ  liveth  in 
me,"  and  then  shall  we  live  a  life  of  faith  on  the  Son  of  (lod. 

When  you  write  Mrs.  Heskine,  remember  me  to  her  ami 
also  to  Miss  Bliss  in  the  kindest  manner.  I  should  like  to 
have  a  place  not  only  in  the  recollections,  but  in  the  prnyrrs 


234  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

of  these  good  people.  I  get  an  occasional  note  from  Mrs. 
Blackwell — the  efiusion  of  a  spirit  breathing  the  utmost  af- 
fection for  all  that  is  good  and  aspiring,  I  have  no  doubt,  God- 
ward  and  Heavenward. 

Last  month  I  went  to  Anster,  where,  in  Mr.  Ballardie's 
house,  I  married  Mr.  Couper  of  Burntisland,  one  of  our  Free 
Church  ministers,  to  Miss  Williamson.  I  took  up  my  night- 
quarters  at  Barnsmuir  for  two  nights — was  loaded  with  kind- 
ness by  the  two  Mr.  Fortunes,  the  sons  of  Christian  Rankine — 
met  with  Mrs.  Watson,  who  came  down  from  Leuchars  on  pur- 
pose to  be  with  me — and  we  indulged  together  in  the  afiecting 
reminiscences  of  forty-five  years  back.  I  learned  much  from 
her  and  Miss  Menzies  (still  there)  of  the  death-bed  both  of 
Mrs.  Fortune  and  Mrs.  Brown,  Christian  and  Anne  Rankine. 
Kindest  regards  to  all,  and  ever  believe  me,  my  dearest  Jane, 
yours  very  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 


[Captain  Rankine,  of  Barnsmuir,  had  three  daughters :  the  eldest, 
Christian,  married  to  Mr.  Fortune ;  the  second,  Anne,  married  to  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Brown,  of  Kih-enny ;  the  third,  Susan,  married  to  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Watson,  mini.ster  of  Leuchars,  a  parish  not  far  from  Kihuany. 
The  following  series  of  letters  is  addressed  to  different  members  of 
this  much-loved  family. — See  "  Memoirs,"  vol.  iv.,  p.  441. 1 

No.  CCIX.— To  THE  Rev.  Mr.  Watson. 

KiLMANY  Manse,  16th  December,  1814. 
My  dear  vSir — Agreeably  to  a  promise  I  made  to  Mrs. 
Watson,  whose  interest  in  the  matter  I  feel  myself  much  in- 
debted to,  1  have  to  inform  you  that  I  have  at  length  sent  a 
letter  of  concurrence  in  my  late  appointment  to  one  of  the 
churches  of  Glasgow.  The  prospect  of  my  departure  gives 
me  a  greater  tenderness  than  ever  for  all  my  friends,  and  es- 
pecially do  I  feel  a  very  deep  interest  in  all  those  clergymen 
who  are  placed  around  my  much-loved  and  much-regretted 
parish.  Were  I  taking  leave  of  the  world,  I  would  feel  my- 
self released  from  all  those  delicacies  which  are  so  apt  to  re- 


REV.  MR.  WATSON.  235 


strain  the  converse  of  human  beings  upon  their  greatest  con- 
cern. Now  I  feel  something  of  the  same  kind  of  emancipation 
upon  merely  leaving  the  neighborhood,  and  you  will  therefore 
bear  with  me  when  I  express  the  pleasure  I  have  often  felt 
ill  witnessing  the  decided  tendency  of  your  mind  toward  jiure 
and  Scriptural  Christianity.  It  is  my  earnest  prayer  that  you 
may  abound  more  and  more  ;  that  you  may  obtain  grace  to 
be  found  faithful  ;  that  you  may  be  enabled  manfully  to  hold 
forth  the  Word  of  Lite  in  the  midst  of  all  the  contempt  and 
resistance  it  may  meet  with  ;  and  that,  rising  superior  to  all 
the  disgust  which  the  peculiarities  of  the  Christian  faith  ex- 
cites in  the  unrenewed  heart,  you  may  give  a  single  and  well- 
sustained  aim  to  the  great  work  of  fitting  a  people  for  eternity. 
May  God  pour  down  such  a  blessing  on  your  parish  that  there 
may  not  be  room  to  receive  it ;  but  that,  flowing  over  into 
other  parishes  it  may  prove  a  leaven  for  good  beyond  the 
field  of  your  immediate  exertions. 

Give  the  assurance  of  my  friendship  and  my  prayers  to 
Mrs.  Watson.  She  has  been  beyond  measure  kind  and  indul- 
gent to  me,  and  I  have  every  reason  to  be  thankful  for  the 
privilege  of  her  countenance  and  society.  Let  her  persevere 
in  seeking  earnestly  after  the  way  of  peace,  and  she  will  find 
it.  God  never  said  to  any,  "  Seek  my  face  in  vain  ;''  and  if 
she  betake  herself  to  the  guidance  of  His  Spirit,  and  the 
faithful  reading  of  His  Word,  she  will  find  all  the  perplex- 
ities which  darken  the  outset  of  every  anxious  and  inquiring 
Christian  to  merge  at  length  in  the  delightful  sunshine  of  a 
mind  resting  upon  the  promises  of  God,  and  running  with 
enlargement  and  pleasure  in  the  way  of  all  His  command- 
ments. May  she  long  live  with  you  as  a  fellow-heir  of  the 
grace  of  hfe  ;  may  the  influence  of  her  example  be  felt  and 
followed  by  all  her  relations;  may  her  children  rise  and  call 
her  blessed  ;  may  she  have  a  part  in  the  resurrection  of  the 
just,  and  be  a  bright  and  shining  star  in  that  heavenly  region 
where  there  is  no  sorrow  and  no  separation.  Yours  mc-^t 
afTectionately,  Tiio.mas  Chal.mer.s. 


236  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


No.  CCX.— To  THE  Rev.  Mr.  Watson. 

Glasgow,  26th  January^  1818. 
My  dear  Sir — Though  it  be  long  since  I  received  your  last 
letter,  and  I  have  since  seen  you  personally,  yet  I  assure  you 
that  I  have  too  much  value  for  a  friendly  connection  with  you 
and  your  relations  to  let  down  our  correspondence.  I  was 
much  pleased  and  impressed  with  the  contents  of  your  last 
communication,  in  as  far  as  they  went  to  exhibit  your  own 
earnest  desire  for  a  warmer  spirit  of  Christianity  in  your  neigh- 
borhood, though  I  fear  that  your  representation  of  it  in  this 
respect  is  but  too  just ;  that  the  most  satisfactory  thing  that 
can  be  said  of  it  is,  that  all  is  comfort  and  quiet  in  the  enjo)'^- 
ment  of  the  good  things  of  this  life.  How  strikingly  does  this 
express  the  prevailing  character  of  all  neighborhoods  in  our 
land  ;  how  much  does  an  interest  in  time  predominate  every 
where  over  any  interest  in  eternity  ;  how  little,  alas  I  do  the 
objects  of  the  latter  excite  a  real  earnestness  and  a  real  seek- 
ing after  them  ;  and  how  faithfully  do  I  describe  the  heart  of 
every  natural  man  when  I  say  that  it  is  altogether  occupied 
with  the  cares,  and  the  interests,  and  the  objects  of  the  world, 
to  the  exclusion  of  Him  who  formed  it.  The  great  problem 
is,  how  to  set  up  this  in  our  own  souls  and  in  those  of  our 
neighborhood  ;  and  I  am  sure  that  no  truth  comes  more  for- 
cibly recommended  to  us  by  all  experienced  in  the  utter  pow- 
erlessness  of  man  in  this  business.  Our  faith  stands  not  in 
his  wisdom,  but  in  the  power  of  God.  And  this  truth,  instead 
of  quelling  our  activity,  ought  just  to  give  the  right  direction 
to  it — even  that  of  preaching  His  Gospel,  or  dealing  out  as 
faithful  stewards  the  treasure  which  He  has  been  pleased  to 
put  into  earthen  vessels ;  and  praying  in  faith  for  a  blessing 
from  Him  who  alone  giveth  the  increase  under  all  the  dis- 
couragements there  of  an  unpromising  soil.  Know  that  your 
labor  in  the  Lord  shall  not  be  in  vain,  and  forget  not  the 
maxim  which  a  devoted  missionary,  Elliot,  transmitted  to  us 
as  the  fruit  of  his  own  experience,  "that  prayers  and  pains 
can  do  any  thing,"  &c. 


MRS.  WATSON.  ^7 


I  can  not  express  to  you  how  much  I  feel  interested  in  the 
best  concerns,  both  of  yourself  and  of  dear  Mrs.Wutson.  1  spent 
an  evening  with  much  enjoyment  lately  at  Pilnuiir.  (xod 
grant  that  all  of  us  may  so  believe  and  so  abound  in  those 
fruits  of  righteousness  w^hich  are  by  Jesus  Christ,  that  we  may 
be  found  to  praise,  and  honor,  and  glory  in  the  day  of  reckon- 
ing.    Yours  most  affectionately,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCXI.— To  Mr.  Fortune. 

Gl.\sgow,  1823. 

My  dear  Sir — I  have  just  received  your  most  distressing 
intimation,  the  more  severe  as  it  was  wholly  unexpected.  In 
Mrs.  Fortune  I  have  lost  one  of  the  most  intimate  and  most 
interesting  associates  of  my  early  life,  and  I  received  the  in- 
telligence of  her  death  as  a  solemn  and  aflecting  admonition 
offered  to  my  own  heart  of  the  vanity  of  all  that  is  below. 

I  beg  that  you  will  compose  your  feelings  under  the  over- 
whelming dispensation ;  and  still  more  do  I  entreat,  that  from 
the  tomb  of  her  that  is  nearest  and  dearest  to  you,  you  will 
hear  that  voice  of  wisdom  which  bids  us  cease  from  time,  and 
give  all  our  hopes  and  preparations  to  eternity. 

It  is  my  earnest  prayer  that  this  awful  visitation  may  work 
a  saving  and  a  sanctifying  influence,  both  to  your  own  heart 
and  to  the  hearts  of  those  related  to  her  and  most  interesting 
to  myself.  May  this  deep  sorrow  shut  us  all  up  unto  Him 
who  alone  can  open  for  us  the  gates  of  that  city  where  sin, 
and  suffering,  and  separation  are  unknown.  Do  remember 
me  in  the  language  of  truest  sympathy  to  Mrs.  Rankine,  Mrs. 
"Watson,  and  Mrs.  Brown.  I  am,  my  dear  sir,  yours  verj'  sin- 
cerely, Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCXII.^To  Mrs.  Watson. 

Glasgow.  9th  June.  1823. 
My  dear  Madam — I  have  recently  heard,  and  with  great 
leiideruess   and   grief,  of  the  increased  illness    of  poor  Mrs. 
Blown.      I  think  much  of  the  dear  sufferer,  and  it  is  my  cr)- 


238  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

and  prayer  to  God  that  she  may  be  upheld  in  the  sore  strug- 
gle through  which  God  is  pleased  to  bring  her  to  Himself ; 
that  grace  may  prevail  over  nature,  and  her  affliction — which, 
after  all,  is  light  in  the  high  reckoning  of  eternity,  because 
but  for  a  moment — may  indeed  work  out  for  her  an  exceed- 
ing weight  of  glory.  In  her  and  in  Mrs.  Fortune  I  feel  that 
two  of  my  most  interesting  ties  with  Fife  are  broken;  and  I 
do  feel  more  solicitous  than  ever  that  you  should  spare  your- 
self as  well  as  you  can  the  agitations  of  that  trying  scene 
where  you  are  now  called  to  watch  and  to  witness  the  ago- 
nies of  one  who  is  i^  every  way  so  dear  to  us  all. 

There  is  a  text  that  perhaps  Mrs.  Brown  might  feel  a  pre- 
ciousness  in;  it  is  Deuteronomy,  xxxii.,  36.  It  upheld  the 
peace  and  patience  of  one  of  my  old  hearers  on  his  death-bed. 
He  had  lost  the  power  almost  of  thinking,  and  felt  that  the 
sickness  and  the  pain  made  such  inroads  upon  his  mind  that 
he  could  not  be  satisfied  with  any  of  its  exercises ;  and  so 
he  simply  laid  it  all  upon  God.  He  ceased  even  to  try  a 
right  process  of  meditation,  but  lay  still  in  a  sort  of  resigned 
abeyance,  hoping  at  the  same  time  that,  though  his  powers 
of  thought,  and  sentiment,  and  even  prayer  were  altogether 
gone,  yet  God's  power  and  God's  pity  were  unfailing. 

There  is  a  song  of  triumph  that  awaiteth  all  those  who  die 
in  Christ,  and  have  come  out  of  great  tribulation ;  and  even 
here  the  rapture  and  the  glory  of  it  may  be  partially  felt ;  it 
is  "  unto  Him  that  loved  us,  and  washed  us  from  our  sins  in 
His  blood."  Oh,  there  is  a  charm  in  the  thought  of  its  cleans- 
ing and  peace-speaking  power,  and  that  by  it  the  way  of  ac- 
cess for  the  guilty  is  now  a  consecrated  way — consecrated  by 
the  blood  of  a  Divine  expiation — and  in  which  if  we  are  found, 
the  justice  of  God  will  not  overtake  us,  and  His  mercy  will 
rejoice  over  us. 

I  should  be  sorry  to  fatigue  the  mind  of  your  much-loved 
sister  by  loo  great  a  variety  of  topics.  One  text  may  perhaps 
be  her  aliment  for  hours  together.  One  precious  clause  is 
often  enough  to  uphold  a  dying  Christian,  and  more  might  dis- 


MRS.  WATSON.  .^39 


tract  and  annoy  her.  When  Fletcher  died,  it  was  after  many 
hours  of  spiritual  exultation,  through  which  he  conslanlly  re- 
iterated that  "God  is  love." 

Say  all  that  is  tender  in  my  name  to  her  on  whom  the 
hand  of  God  has  been  laid.  He  will  at  length  compass  her 
about  with  songs  of  deliverance,  and  the  merciful  High-priesf , 
touched  with  the  feeling  of  her  infirmities,  saith  unto  her,  "  It 
IS  I,  be  not  afraid."     Believe  me,  yours  most  aflectionately, 

ThOxMas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCXIII.— To  Mrs.  Watson. 

Gl.\.sgow,  9th  July,  1823. 

My  very  dear  Madam — The  intimation  from  Kilrenny 
Manse  reached  us  on  Saturday,  and  aroused  a  deep  emotion 
among  us  all,  though  we  could  not  but  feel  relieved  by  the 
thought  that  so  great  sufferings  had  terminated.  After  all, 
they  are  but  for  a  moment,  and  will  now  be  looked  back  upon 
by  the  glorified  spirit  as  the  instruments  of  her  present  com- 
plete purification — as  the  stejDs  by  which  she  hath  reached 
her  present  advancement  in  heaven.  I  have  now  only  to 
entreat  that  you  and  Mrs.  Rankine  will  be  calm.  Be  still,  and 
know  that  He  who  visited  you  with  this  sore  bereavement  is 
God.  It  is  not  the  violence  of  your  grief  that  I  fear  :  it  is  its 
despondency  ;  and  therefore  would  I  have  you  to  bear  up — 
to  take  such  part,  as  health  and  strength  will  enable  you  to 
do,  in  the  cares  and  duties  of  every-day  life  ;  and  instead  of 
giving  way  to  overmuch  sorrow,  be  assured  that  the  calls  of 
family  and  relative  obligation  are  partly  the  provisions  of  a 
kind  and  wise  Ruler  for  diverting  the  mind  from  that  which, 
if  singly  and  exclusively  dwelt  upon,  might  overbear  it  al- 
together. 

And  what  a  season,  too," for  growth  in  grace — for  the  fruits 
of  the  spirit — for  that  righteousness  which  the  chastening 
hand  of  God  yieldeth  unto  all  those  who  are  exercised  there- 
by. Your  hearts  are  now  exceeding  soft,  and  tender,  and 
broken  under  an  avvlnl  visitation  of  Divine  Providence,  and 


240  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

they  offer  a  likely  soil  for  the  showers  and  influences  of  Di- 
vine grace.  The  sorrow  of  nature  is  not  godly  sorrow,  but 
it  may  be  turned  to  it ;  and  now  is  the  tinne  for  deep  impres- 
sions of  the  worthlessness  of  time,  of  the  vast  magnitude  of 
eternal  things,  of  the  evil  of  sin,  of  the  value  of  the  Savior,  of 
the  exceeding  urgency  of  that  Gospel  call  whereby  we  are  en- 
treated to  seek  God  now,  and  to  enter  into  reconciliation  with 
Him  through  Christ,  that  we  too  may  be  provided  against 
that  day  when  w^e  shall  be  summoned  into  His  presence,  and 
that  other  day  when  we  shall  stand  before  his  judgment-seat. 

And  what  an  alleviation  to  your  present  sorrows  that  you 
are  not  called  upon  to  sorrow  as  others  who  have  no  hope  ; 
that,  on  that  death-bed  which  you  have  so  recently  witnessed, 
there  w^as  a  brightness  and  a  glory  which  softened  all  its  ago- 
nies ;  that,  amid  the  cruel  sufferings  of  the  flesh,  there  was  a 
Spirit  that  bore  up  her  on  whom  God  was  pleased  to  lay  the 
hand  of  a  refiner ;  and  that,  in  her  case,  death  was  disarmed 
of  its  terrors  and  its  sting,  and  she  was  more  than  conqueror 
through  Him  who  loved  her. 

We  must  now  give  up  all  thought  of  the  world  as  a  rest- 
ing-place. It  will  mitigate  the  evil  when  it  comes,  that  we 
lay  our  account  with  it.  Forewarned,  forearmed — we  should 
not  think  any  strange  thing  has  happened  to  us  ;  and  I  know 
nothing  that  more  lightens  the  hardships  of  life,  and  more  rec- 
onciles us  to  them,  than  that  previous  settlement  of  mind 
which  a  faith  in  this  prediction  of  our  Savior  is  fitted  to  in- 
spire— "  In  the  world  ye  shall  have  tribulation." 

There  are  no  deaths  which  could  have  carried  home  this 
lesson  with  greater  energy  to  my  own  heart  than  the  two 
which  have  occurred  in  your  family.  I  desire  to  find  that  I 
am  sanctified,  even  as  I  feel  that  I  am  solemnized  by  them. 
May  they  shut  us  all  up  more  closely  and  more  tenaciously 
unto  the  faith ;  and,  walking  softly  and  tenderly  under  the  im- 
pression throughout  the  remainder  of  our  pilgrimage,  may  we 
retain  to  the  end  of  our  days  the  attitude  of  strangers  and 
pilgrims  who  have  not  taken  up  with  the  world  as  a  residence, 
but  use  it  merely  as  a  road. 


MRS.  WAT.SON.  .^j 

Give  my  most  affectionate  condolence  to  Mrs.  Rankiae  and 
poor  Mr.  Brown.     I  remain,  yours  most  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCXIV.— To  Mrs.Watson. 

Skirling,  21st  September,  1845. 

My  very  dear  Mrs.  Watson— I  feel  deeply  sensible  of 
your  goodness  in  having  joined  me  at  Barnsmuir,  as  it  added 
prodigiously  to  the  interest  and  the  enjoyment  I  felt  in  my 
visit  to  the  place  of  my  tenderest  recollections. 

When  in  Kilrenny  church-yard,  I  was  so  engrossed  witli 
the  tablet  appropriated  to  dear  Anne,  that  I  have  carried 
away  an  imperfect  remembrance  of  that  which  was  raised 
for  Mr.  Brown.  I  saw  enough  of  it,  however,  to  observe  that 
it  was  placed  there  by  the  parochial  community  as  a  tribute 
and  acknowledgment  for  the  great  worth  of  his  Christian 
services  in  the  midst  of  them.  I  omitted,  in  the  variety  of 
our  other  topics,  to  state  the  very  great  satisfaction  which  I 
felt  in  such  a  testimony  to  his  devotedness  as  a  minister  of 
the  Gospel. 

I  can  not  expect,  nor  would  I  dare  to  ask,  for  a  sight  of  any 
of  Mrs.  Fortune's  letters,  however  intense  the  feeling  might  be 
on  my  perusal  of  them.  But  there  is  one  request  which  I 
have  the  boldness  to  make,  and  which  I  flatter  myself  that 
you  will  not  deny.  You  stated  that  there  were  certain  texts 
or  passages  of  Scripture  to  which  Mrs.  Brown  often  referred 
in  the  course  of  her  last  illness.  If  you  have  any  memorials 
of  them,  lean  not  express  the  value  I  would  feel  for  a  list  of 
them.  You  would  not  need  to  write  them  out.  The  chap- 
ter and  verses  will  be  sufficient. 

I  shall,  if  God  will,  have  returned  to  Edinburgh  by  the  Ist 
of  October,  after  which  a  letter  from  you  would  be  truly  ac- 
ceptable. 

Give  my  love  to  your  daughters,*  and  kindest  regards  to 
Mr.  Watson. 

*  I  forget  if  Christian  has  Rankino  also  in  her  name. 

V.  L 


242  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

I  entreat  a  place  in  your  prayers. 

I  hope  we  shall  meet  in  heaven  ;  but  let  us  never  forget 
that  without  holiness  no  man  can  see  God. 

I  purpose  writing  to  Mr.  William  Fortune  in  a  week. 
Since  I  have  retired  from  public  business,  and  have  some  leis- 
ure for  looking  back  on  my  checquered  existence,  the  scenes 
and  society  of  Barnsmuir  form  those  parts  of  the  distant  ret- 
rospect on  which  1  most  love  to  repose.  My  dearest  Susan, 
yours  most  affectionately,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCXV.— To  Mrs.  Watson. 

Edinburgh,  23c?  October^  1845. 

My  very  dear  Friend — I  must  delay  no  longer  to  ac- 
knowledge your  very  welcome  letter  with  the  packet  I  re- 
ceived from  your  daughters,  and  for  the  contents  of  which  I 
have  the  greatest  value,  both  the  testimony  to  one  whom  I 
never  can  forget  or  think  of  without  emotion,  and  the  letter 
from  Kilrenny,  with  your  own  precious  notes  respecting  the 
last  illness  of  her  who  obviously  died  in  the  triumphs  of  the 
faith. 

The  picture  you  sent  is  superior  to  that  at  Barnsmuir,  and 
in  some  respects  more  impressive  ;  but  there  are  in  it  a  force, 
and  vivacity,  and  decision,  which,  though  at  the  distance  of 
a  thousand  miles  from  aught  that  borders  on  the  masculine, 
yet  are  not  so  true  to  the  original  as  the  other,  which  pre- 
sents, I  think,  a  more  faithful  exhibition  of  that  sensitively 
and  exquisitely  feminine  expression  which  formed  the  peculiar 
charm  and  grace  of  her  character. 

It  were  well  if  these  tender  reminiscences  of  the  distant 
past  led  us  onward  in  thought  to  the  much  nearer  futurity 
which  now  awaits  us  both.  My  God,  do  Thou  sanctify  these 
strong  affections  of  nature,  and  raise  them  to  the  things  which 
are  above,  so  that  we  may  be  prepared  for  that  heaven  where 
our  dear  and  blessed  Savior  has  gone  before  us,  and  where 
we  may  both  love  Him  and  love  our  fellows  without  frailty 
and  without  a  flaw 


MRS.  WATSON.  ^iS 


I  have  written  William,*  and  scarcely  looked  for  a  reply. 
He  has  not  M'ritten  back,  and  this  is  very  natural  :  he  must 
not  be  urged  to  write,  it  must  be  done  spontaneously,  and 
this  is  much  better.  There  is  in  my  heart  a  derived  and  de- 
scending love  from  the  mother  to  the  children,  which  I  feel 
a  pleasure  in  cherishing,  though  you  are  the  only  person  in 
the  world  with  whom  I  could  talk  about  it.  I  felt  a  comfort 
and  rehef  in  our  recent  conversations,  and  am  not  without 
hope  that  ere  another  twelvemonth  elapse  we  may  have  the 
same  opportunity  for  the  same  enjoyment. 

Meanwhile,  let  us  pray  for  the  souls  of  these  dear  youth. 
George  I  look  upon  as  an  altogether  new  acquaintance,  and  I 
think  him  a  very  likeable  person. 

Give  my  best  regards  to  Mr.  Watson,  and  also  to  the  Misses 
•Marianne  and  Christian,  whom  I  had  pleasure  in  meeting 
and  conversing  with.  If  Miss  Brown  be  with  you,  present  to 
her  my  kindest  remembrances. 

My  winter  campaign  is  on  the  eve  of  commencing,  and  I 
gladly  anticipate  its  engrossments  by  these  few  lines  to  you. 
No  bustle,  however,  of  other  affkirs  will  lessen  the  interest  I 
shall  always  feel  in  your  communications,  nor,  I  hope,  prevent 
my  replying  to  them,  however  briefly. 

I  pray  for  a  blessing  upon  your  own  soul.  Heavenly  Fa- 
ther, save  me  from  being  deceived  by  the  mere  counterfeits 
or  semblances  of  Divine  grace.  May  my  love  for  my  fellows 
be  genuine,  heaven-born,  spiritual  love — such  a  love  to  my 
brethren  as  is  like  unto  the  love  of  Thyself  Let  us  feel  to- 
ward each  other  as  fellow-travelers  to  eternity  ;  and  though, 
reverting  to  the  dear  and  long-departed  object  of  my  fondest 
recollections,  I  have  not  lived  with  her  in  one  mansion,  may 
I  share  with  her  in  one  blessed  resurrection,  and  join  her 
among  the  choirs  and  coinpanies  of  the  celestial  above. 

I  like  Miss  Watson's  idea  of  getting  a  copy  of  iho  pirturt-  ; 
but  before  that,  I  wish  to  compare  it  with  the  one  at  Barng- 
muir.  I  think  a  compound  of  the  two  would  bo  as  ]»erfect 
*  Mrs  Fortune's  eldest  son      Seep   245 


244  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


as  a  black  profile  can  be.  You  are  very  good  to  allow  me 
the  custody  of  yours,  which  I  purpose,  if  God  will,  to  return 
into  your  own  hand. 

With  earnest  prayer  for  every  blessing  on  the  head  of  my 
very  dear  sister  and  friend,  I  ever  am,  yours  most  afibction- 
ately,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCXVI.— To  Mrs.  Watson. 

Burntisland,  1st  February^  1846. 

My  very  dear  Mrs.  Watson — I  received  yours  of  two  or 
three  weeks  back,  and  read  it  with  much  feeling  and  pleas- 
ure. I  should  have  replied  sooner,  but  am  at  all  times  much 
bustled,  and  therefore  I  am  glad  to  avail  myself  of  a  few  leis- 
ure moments  here  for  the  purpose  of  acknowledging  your  kind 
favor. 

It  is  no  ordinary  recollection  that  I  have  of  Barnsmuir,  and 
should  rejoice  if,  through  grace  and  wisdom  from  above,  it 
could  be  made  to  subserve  that  highest  of  all  good  which  has 
fruit  in  eternity. 

We  are  strangely  compounded  creatures,  and  much  do  I 
need  a  sanctifying  influence  to  spiritualize  the  strong  affec- 
tions of  nature,  and  give  a  right  and  holy  direction  to  them. 
I  feel  the  powerlessness  of  all  human  argument,  and  know 
not  if  I  have  made  any  good  impression  on  the  son  of  her  who 
occupies  far  the  most  interesting  place  in  my  retrospect  of 
days  long  gone  by.  I  was  favored  with  a  reply,  in  which  I 
could  discern  talent,  and  good  feeling,  and  intelligence.  May 
the  all-powerful  Spirit  grant  what  He  and  He  alone  can  give 
— the  unction  which  remaineth — the  grace  which  has  fruit 
and  holiness,  and  in  the  end  life  everlasting. 

My  best  regards  to  Mr.  Watson  and  your  dear  daughters. 
I  am  quite  uncertain  of  my  movements  this  summer.  I  had 
a  letter  from  Jane  lately,  who  says  how  much  she  was  inter- 
ested by  my  accounts  of  Barnsmuir,  and  how  delighted  she 
would  have  been  to  meet  you  there. 

I  saw  Miss  Ingli^  lately,  who  tells  me  that  Miss  Menzies 


MR.  FORTUNE.  24S 


was  better.     My  dearest  Mrs.  Watson,  yours  very  afiection- 
ately,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCXVIL— To  Mr.  William  Fortune 

Edinburgh,  5th  October,  1845. 

My  dear  Sir — I  meant  to  have  written  much  sooner,  nnd 
told  how  greatly  I  was  impressed  by  my  visit  to  Barnsmuir. 
You  may  not  be  able  to  enter  into  all  the  feelings  which  are 
associated  in  my  mind  with  the  tender  recollections  of  halfa 
century.  They  were  powerfully  awakened  when  I  stood  be- 
fore the  tomb  of  your  aunt  in  the  church-yard  of  Kilrenny, 
and  have  just  now  been  revived  with  ten-fold  force  by  the 
perusal  of  certain  documents  which  have  been  kindly  put  into 
my  hands,  and  from  which  I  have  gathered  particulars  new 
to  myself,  but  most  deeply  affecting,  relative  to  the  death  of 
Mrs.  Brown,  and  to  that  of  your  dear  mother,  for  whom  I  have 
cherished,  during  the  long  period  of  fifty-five  5-ears,  such  re- 
gards and  remembrances  as  can  never  be  eflaced. 

You  will  forgive  me,  then,  if  under  a  near,  and  urgent,  and 
practical  sense  of  the  realities  of  an  eternal  though  unseen 
v/orld,  I  implore  both  you  and  your  brother,  whom  I  love,  not 
to  suffer  the  evanescent  objects  or  interests  of  time  to  shut 
out  from  your  hearts  the  solemn  considerations  of  the  coming 
judgment  and  the  coming  eternity.  I  have  now  come  to 
that  period  of  life  when  I  may  be  said  to  be  hovering  on  the 
confines  of  both  worlds.  I  can  attest  from  experience  the  van- 
ities and  disappointments  of  earth,  and  that  truly  it  is  not 
here  where  the  firm  footing  of  our  interest  lies.  The  dear 
brother,  who,  though  younger  than  yourt^elf,  has  yet  gone  be- 
fore you,  has  left  behind  the  lesson,  not  only  that  time  is  short, 
but  that  we  know  not  hew  short.  The  two  sisters,  ]ove]ie!»t 
of  women,  who  died  within  a  few  months  of  each  other,  died 
more  tlian  twenty  years  ago,  and  yet  were  both  of  th^ni  my 
juniors.  The  lessons  of  our  common  mortality,  though  not 
yet  within  the  circle  of  my  own  immediate  family,  yet  within 
the  circle  of  a  very  wide  acquaintanceship,  have  Hown  thick 


246  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

about  me  ;  and  such  is  my  affection  for  your  now  long- depart- 
ed relatives — such  my  affection  both  for  you  and  your  brother, 
for  their  sakes,  that  I  entreat  you  not  to  make  a  resting-place 
of  that  earth  which  passeth  speedily  away,  but  to  aspire  God- 
ward  and  heavenward,  and  be  the  followers  of  those  who 
through  faith  and  patience  are  now  inheriting  the  promises. 

And  do  not  think,  my  dear  sir,  that  that  knowledge  of  Grod 
and  of  Jesus  Christ,  which  is  life  everlasting,  is  something  so 
lofty  and  mysterious  as  to  be  beyond  the  reach  of  your  attain- 
ments. The  Bible,  if  read  with  diligence,  and  the  Spirit  giv- 
en to  pour  light  upon  the  Bible,  if  prayed  for  with  sincerity 
and  earnestness,  these  are  the  great  agencies  and  means  by 
which  even  the  poorest  and  humblest  of  men  might  be  made 
wise  unto  salvation.  And  there  are  other  helps  besides  the 
Scriptures  not  to  be  neglected,  for  by  them  we  might  be  the 
better  enabled  to  understand  the  Scriptures.  But  tastes  and 
understandings  are  various,  and  the  books  suited  to  some  are 
comparatively  useless  to  others.  The  human  author  who  did 
me  most  good  was  Wilberforce,  by  his  work  on  the  "  Christian- 
ity of  the  Higher  and  Middle  Classes."  And  yet  I  know  some 
who  felt  no  interest  in  this  book,  though  some  of  the  follow- 
ing might,  perhaps,  prove  more  impressive  and  profitable  ; 
Baxter's  "Call  to  the  Unconverted;"  AUeine's  "Alarm;" 
Doddridge's  "  Rise  and  Progress  of  Religion  in  the  Soul ;" 
Baxter's  "  Compassionate  Counsel  to  Young  Men  ;"  Guthrie's 
"  Trial  of  a  Saving  Interest  in  Christ ;"  Bradley's  "  Sermons," 
&c.  But,  after  all,  let  me  state  in  a  single  sentence  what 
the  likeliest  expedient  is  for  passing  out  of  darkness  into  the 
marvelous  light  of  the  Gospel.  It  is  the  prayerful  reading 
OF  THE  Bible.  "  Search  the  Scriptures  ;  for  in  them  ye  think 
that  ye  have  eternal  life,  and  these  are  they  which  testify  of 
Him,  who  is  the  way,  and  the  truth,  and  the  life  ;"  and  a.sk 
for  God's  enlightening  Spirit :  "  Ask  till  ye  receive,  seek  till 
ye  find,  knock  till  the  door  be  opened  to  you"  (Matt.,  vii.,  7- 
11).  Do  indulge  these  overflowings  of  a  heart  which  feels 
the  strongest  interest  in  one  and  all  of  your  dearest  mother's 


MR.  FORTUNE.  217 


family.  O  that  God  would  endow  me  with  the  wisdom  for 
arousing  your  souls,  and  that  His  Holy  Spirit,  poured  forth 
upon  us  from  on  high,  would  prepare  us  for  an  entrance  on 
that  exalted  region,  where  the  spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect 
rejoice  forever  in  the  presence  of  God. 

Give  my  kindest  regards  to  Mr.  George  and  Miss  Menzies. 
Tell  her  that  our  interviews  and  conversations,  though  brief, 
were  to  me  very  precious,  and  that  the  memory  of  them  is 
sweet.  They  have  left  a  sorrow  behind  them,  and  given  me 
an  intense  desire  for  her  comfort,  under  the  loss  of  that  dear 
youth  to  whom  she  was  a  second  mother.  I  ever  am,  my 
dear  sir,  yours  with  most  cordial  and  sincere  regard, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

[The  Manse  of  Inchttjre.  16ih  November.  1850. — De.ir  Sir — On 
looking  over  some  of  my  old  papers  some  time  ago,  amontj  a  numoer 
of  letters  from  Dr.  Chalmers  to  ditTerent  members  of  my  family,  1  found 
the  following  to  my  father,  which  I  think  us  interesting  as  any  given 
in  the  first  volume,  and  which  I  am  about  to  copy  verbatim,  leaving 
you  to  make  any  use  of  it  you  like. 

That  you  may  understand  it,  it  is  only  necessary  for  me  to  say,  that 
the  occasion  of  it  must  have  been  an  application  on  the  part  of  my  fa- 
ther for  Dr.  Chalmers's  influence  on  his  behalf,  with  the  view  of  obtain- 
ing the  presentation  to  the  parish  of  Bendochy,  then  vacant,  and  which 
he  ultimately  succeeded  in  doinnc,  mainly  through  the  exertions  of  the 
late  George  Kinloch,  Esq.,  of  Kinloch,  who  was  a  particular  friend  of 
my  father's.  The  attachment  alluded  to  was  that  for  my  mother,  the 
eldest  daughter  of  Dr.  Adamson.  first  or  .«;enior  minister  of  St.  Andrew's, 
to  whose  influence,  I  have  heard  Dr.  Chalmers  say,  he  wa.s  mainly  in- 
debted for  his  presentation  to  Kilmany.  Indeed,  1  have  a  letter  before 
me  to  my  mother,  in  which  the  doctor  says  :  '"  Seeing  it  was  to  your 
father  I  .stood  indebted  for  the  first  great  preferment  of  my  life.''  'This 
obligation  Dr.  Chalmers  seems  never  to  have  forgotten,  as  it  is  again 
and^aiiain  alluded  to  in  his  letters,  not  only  to  my  father  and  mother, 
but  also  to  myself;  and  I  remember  his  piving  frequent  expression  to  it 
in  his  intercourse  with  my  mether,  as  well  as  to  his  desire  that  he  could 
in  any  way  return  it,  so  late  as  in  1831.  Among  other  en'ort-s  to  carry 
this  desire  into  effect,  there  was  none  which  gave  n  finer  or  more  strik- 
ing  token  of  its  intensity  than  that  attention  he  paid  my  m<'ther  on  her 
de'ath-bed.  when  almost  every  day  for  six  weeks,  in  the  Imsirst  jx-n.-I 
of,  I  think,  his  first  .session  in  Edinburgh  as  Professor  of  Divuniy.  he 
visited  and  prayed,  and  did  what  he  could  to  comfort  sp.niually  .>ur 


CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


dying  parent,  and  my  brother  and  myself  in  the  prospect  of  our  bereave- 
ment. I  beg  to  be  kindly  remembered  to  Mrs.  Hanna.  Yours  most 
faithfully,  John  Adamson  Honey. 

The'  Rev.  W.  Hanna,  LL.D., 
of  Free  St.  John's,  Edinburgh.] 

No.  CCXVIII. — Letter  to  Rev.  Mr.  Honey.* 

KiLMANY  Manse,  2d  May,  1812. 

My  dear  Sir — I  this  day  arrived  from  Dundee,  and  found 
your  letter  awaiting  me.  The  wax  has  effaced  the  date  of 
it ;  but  I  am  sorry  that  a  single  day  should  have  been  lost  in 
so  urgent  a  cause.  I  guess  a  letter  to  be  the  most  impressive 
form  of  application  to  Mr.  Morison,  and  have  accordingly  writ- 
ten him  to  write  Mr.  Kinloch.  I  have  no  acquaintance  with 
Mr.  Chalmers  in  Dundee,  but  propose  being  there  on  Monday, 
when  I  shall  speak  to  my  only  two  acquaintances  there,  and 
shall  try  to  reach  him  through  one  or  other  of  these  channels. 

I  shall  give  you  an  account  of  the  last  three  years,  and 
leave  you  to  judge  whether  my  conduct  is  at  all  palliated  by 
the  circumstances.  I  took  ill  in  May,  1809,  got  so  well  in 
July  as  to  spend  the  summer  in  Anster  a  sea-bathing :  took 
ill  again  in  October,  and  was  thirty-one  weeks  kept  out  of 
ray  pulpit  :  spent  great  part  of  another  summer  at  Anster, 
and  from  November,  1810,  to  September,  1811,  was  confined 
with  a  pupil,  besides  being  in  such  a  state  of  health  that  every 
excursion  1  made  from  my  own  bed,  and  from  my  own  regi- 
men, was  sure  to  land  me  in  the  confinement  of  a  week  or  a 
fortnight.  I  am  now  better — greatly  better  ;  and  now  that  I 
have  got  something  like  health,  my  Avish  is  to  keep  it,  and 
not  to  throw  it  away.  I  am  bilious  to  a  great  degree,  and 
nothing  but  the  most  scrupulous  attention  to  regimen  and 
exercise  can  keep  it  down. 

Amid  all  this,  I  had  projected  at  different  times  an  excur- 
sion to  your  house,  and  still  persist  in  my  attention  of  paying 
you  a  visit.     I  was  sorry,  by-the-way,  that  I  missed  your  call 
at  Kilmany.     I  often  think  of  you,  have  as  warm  and  friendly 
*  See  Memoirs,  vol.  i.,  p.  433-435. 


REV.  MR.  HONEY.  219 


recollections  of  you  as  ever,  and  rejoice  in  the  prospect  of  be- 
ing relieved  from  one  painful  contemplation,  which  I  assure 
you  is  often  present  to  me,  viz.,  my  sitting  in  a  place  where 
yon,  hitherto  unprovided,  would  most  assuredly  have  hetMi, 
had  your  boldness  in  declaring  a  certain  attachment  been 
equal  to  the  sincerity  with  which  you  conceived  and  the  con- 
stancy with  which  you  maintained  it. 

I  am  glad  that,  while  you  intimate  your  having  heard  of 
me  in  the  new  capacity  of  a  serious  man,  you  offer  to  keep 
me  in  countenance.  It  is  the  dread  of  being  laughed  at 
which  keeps  men  from  announcing  themselves  ;  and  I  hope 
that  you  will  be  superior  to  it.  Have  you  read  Foster's 
"  Essays  ?" — the  best  book  I  have  seen  for  effecting  a  transi- 
tion from  the  school  of  elegant  literature  to  the  school  of  the 
New  Testament.  Read  Wilberforce's  "View  of  Religion  in 
the  Middling  and  Higher  Classes,"  and  Doddridge's  "  Rise 
and  Progress  of  Religion  in  the  Soul."  Embark  with  energy 
in  this  new  career,  and  you  will  find  it  the  most  splendid  and 
animating  yon  have  ever  tried ;  nor  can  I  see  upon  any  prin- 
ciple, even  of  philosophy,  how  we  can  stop  till  we  have  found 
our  conclusion  and  our  repose  in  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  the 
Gospel.  Give  my  kindest  regards  to  Mrs.  Honey  ;  and  believe 
me  yours,  with  much  regard,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

Let  me  add  to  the  above  Fuller's  "  Comparative  View  of 

Socinianism  and  Calvinism." 

JV.B- — I  kept  this  letter  open  until  I  received  Mr.  Morii^bn's 
answer,  which  I  hereby  inclose  for  the  purpose  of  your  making 
any  use  of  it  with  Mr.  Kinloch  that  may  seem  right. 
The  Rev.  John  Honey, 

Care  of  Adam  Adamson,  Esq.,  Academy,  Perth. 


[Dear  Sir— The  letter,  a  copy  of  which  I  inck)se,  is  infercstinp,  not 
only  because  of  its  intrinsic  merits,  but  on  account  ol'  ils  cxhiI«iiii.K'  the 
<Terms  of  those  schemes  of  Christian  philanthropy  which  the  writer  aft- 

L2 


250  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

erward  developed,  and  prosecuted  with  such  unwearied  zeal  and  such 
remarkable  success.  In  his  diary  he  speaks  of  having  brought  his  pam- 
phlet on  the  Bible  Society  to  a  close  on  the  22d  of  September.  He 
seems  afterward  to  have  been  much  occupied  with  the  business  of 
Church  courts,  and  has  several  entries  which  show  the  mortification 
he  experienced  at  the  resolution  which  the  Synod  adopted,  and  the 
earnestness  with  which  he  prayed  for  grace  to  direct  and  sustain  him  ; 
but  there  is  no  notice  taken  of  his  writing  this  letter.  If  we  had  not 
had  the  document  before  us,  we  might  have  been  led  to  infer,  from  no 
entry  having  been  made  on  the  20th  Octobei",  that  that  day  had  been 
spent  in  leisure  and  recreation.  This  letter  may,  therefore,  be  con- 
sidered a  proof  that  the  account  contained  in  his  diary,  ample  as  it  is, 
exhibits  only  a  part  of  the  intellectual  labor  in  which  he  engaged.  I 
remain  yours  truly,  James  Brodie. 

To  the  Rev.  Wm.  Hanna.] 

No.  CCXIX. — Letter,  to  the  Secretaries  of  the  Fife 
AND  Kinross  Bible  Society. 

KiLMANY  Manse,  20th  October,  1813. 

Dear  Sirs — I  have  been  very  much  to  blame  in  delaying 
an  answer  to  your  last.  I  was  otherwise  a  good  deal  occu- 
pied. I  beg  you  will  not  slavishly  adhere  to  every  word  of 
the  subjoined.  It  is  perhaps  too  long,  and  retrenchments  from 
it,  to  make  room  for  paragraphs  of  your  own  or  others,  may 
be  advisable.  You  should  all  mention  at  the  foot  of  it,  that 
if  any  shall  wish  to  form  Penny  Societies  in  their  neighbor- 
hood, they  may  obtain  the  requisite  information  by  corre- 
sponding with  any  person  or  persons  whom  you  shall  fix  upon 
for  that  purpose. 

In  pleading  the  cause  of  any  institution,  the  great  question 
which  it  lies  upon  us  to  answer  is.  What  good  will  it  do  ? 
The  object  of  the  Bible  Society  is  to  provide  Bibles  for  those 
who  have  them  not  ;  and  the  most  effectual  answer  to  the 
above  question  is,  the  assembling  together  a  few  facts  to  show 
the  good  which  this  has  done. 

1.  Our  first  fact  goes  to  prove  that  the  Christianity  of  the 
Bible  gains  a  readier  access  into  the  hearts  of  the  ignorant 
than  the  Christianity  of  sermons,  and  systems,  and  human 
compositions.      When  missionaries  went  to  Greenland,  you 


FIFE  AND  KINROSS  BIBLE  SOCIETY.  251 


may  be  sure  they  had  the  ignorance  of  a  most  raw  and  un- 
furnished population  to  contend  with.  They  thought  they 
would  go  systematically  to  work,  and,  before  laying  before 
them  the  religion  of  the  Bible,  they  attempted  to  give  them 
some  ideas  of  what  has  been  called  Natural  Religion.  They 
expatiated  on  the  existence,  and  the  unity,  and  the  attributes, 
and  the  love  of  God.  The  poor  Greenlanders  did  not  com- 
prehend them;  and,  at  the  end  of  many  years,  the  missiona- 
ries were  mortified  to  find  that  they  had  not  gained  a  single 
proselyte  to  the  faith.  On  this  they  resolved  to  change  their 
measures,  and,  as  a  last  desperate  experiment,  they  gave  up 
all  their  preparatory  instructions,  and  made  one  great'and  im- 
mediate step  to  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  Christianity,  bring- 
ing them  forward  in  the  language  of  the  Bible.  The  eflect 
was  instantaneous.  When  told  of  sin  and  of  the  Savior,  the 
ears  of  savages  were  constrained  to  listen  to  the  message,  and 
their  understandings  opened  to  receive  it.  There  was  some- 
thing in  the  hearts  of  these  unlettered  men  which  responded 
to  the  views  and  tidings  of  the  Gospel.  The  demonstrations 
of  natural  religion  fell  fruitless  and  uninteUigible  upon  their 
ears  ;  but  they  felt  the  burdens  of  sin  and  of  death,  and  pleas- 
ant to  their  souls  was  the  preacher's  voice  when  it  told  that 
unto  them  "  a  Savior  was  born."  They  live  in  the  ver)'  out- 
skirts of  population,  and  beyond  them  there  is  nothing  seen  but 
a  wilderness  of  snow,  and  nothing  heard  but  the  angry  howl- 
ing of  the  elements.  "VYho  will  say  that  the  enterprise  is  chi- 
merical now,  when,  by  the  single  influence  of  Bible  doctrine, 
a  Christian  people  have  been  formed  in  a  country  so  unprom- 
ising— the  limits  of  the  visible  Church  have  been  pushed  for- 
M'ard  to  the  limits  of  human  existence,  and  the  tidings  of 
good-will  to  men  have  been  carried  with  acceptance  to  the 
very  last  and  outermost  Df  the  species. 

2.  Our  next  example  shall  be  taken  from  the  Esquimaux 
of  Labrador — a  rude  and  wandering  race,  who  hunt  for  furs 
all  summer,  and  live  all  winter  in  caverns  under  ground.  In 
this  case,  as  ip  the  former,  missionaries  labored  among  them 


252  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


in  the  first  instance.  They  communicated  to  their  hearts  an 
interest  in  the  subject.  They  translated  portions  of  Scripture 
into  their  language.  The  Bible  Society  has  presented  them 
with  the  Gospels  of  Matthew  and  John.  The  arts  of  read- 
ing and  writing  are  fairly  introduced  among  them  ;  and  so 
great  is  the  excitement  which  lies  in  Christianity,  that  ^a  few 
of  its  teachers  have  achieved  a  mightier  step  in  the  progress 
of  civilization  than,  with  any  other  subject  or  upon  any  other 
occasion,  the  work  and  the  perseverance  of  many  centuries 
could  have  accomplished. 

3.  Philosophers  reason  upon  the  influence  of  climate  ;  but 
there  is  a  power  in  Christian  truth  which  carries  it  over  all 
these  accidental  varieties.  Christianity  is  gaining  her  prose- 
lytes in  every  quarter  of  the  globe ;  and  we  now  turn  your 
attention  from  the  bleak  and  dreary  regions  of  the  North  to 
a  country  lying  under  the  fierceness  of  a  vertical  sun.  We 
allude  to  the  Tamul  Christians  on  the  coast  of  Coromandel. 
They  were  formed,  about  a  century  ago,  out  of  native  idola- 
ters by  the  society  in  London  for  propagating  Christian  knowl- 
edge ;  and  Christianity  has  been  kept  up  and  extended  among 
them  by  a  translation  of  the  Bible  and  the  labors  of  success- 
ive missionaries.  New  impressions  of  the  Tamul  Bible  are 
preparing  for  them  ;  and,  instead  of  that  obstinate  supersti- 
tion which  we  are  so  ready  to  ascribe  to  the  natives  of  India, 
we  have  beheld  Pagans,  and  the  descendants  of  Pagans,  capa- 
ble of  reading  the  Bible,  and  in  the  attitude  of  eagerness  to 
receive  it. 

4.  But  to  bring  our  list  of  examples  to  a  close.  Our  last 
shall  be  given  you  from  the  Records  of  the  Baptist  Mission 
in  India — one  of  the  most  flourishing  missionary  concerns 
now  in  operation,  and  which,  since  the  year  1746,  has  doub- 
led its  number  of  proselytes  every  three  years.  The  Scrip- 
tures have  of  late  been  translated  into  the  Bengalee  language. 
The  New  Testament  has  reached  a  third  edition,  and  the  Old 
is  now  in  circulation.  By  a  letter  dated  the  26th  October, 
1810,  it  appears  that  nineteen  had  applied  to  Dr.  Carey  for 


FIFE  AND  KINROSS  BIBLE  SOCIETY.  253 


baptism  ;  and  mark  the  decisive  importance  of  the  fact,  eight- 
een of  these  were  indebted  under  Divine  grace  to  the  trans- 
lation of  the  Scriptures  for  their  conversion.  This  is  what 
may  be  called  the  turning-point  of  the  whole  business,  and  it 
is  here  laid  in  full  and  authentic  exhibition  before  you.  The 
Bible  is  translated  into  the  language,  and  put  into  the  hands 
of  an  idolater.  That  Bible  is  read  ;  it  is  brought  into  contact 
with  his  mind,  and  the  faith  which  cometh  from  the  word  of 
God  is  the  consequence.  He  turns  from  dumb  idols  to  serve 
the  living  and  the  true  God  ;  and  the  Scriptures  are  glorilied 
by  their  having  made  him  wise  unto  salvation,  tlirough  the 
faith  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus. 

Our  limits  restrain  us  from  expatiating.  These  arc  only  a 
few  facts  of  the  many,  a  few  gleanings  out  of  the  information 
already  before  the  public  ;  nor  can  we  ofi'er  a  survey,  however 
general,  of  the  decided  aspect  toward  Christianity  among  the 
various  peoples  on  the  face  of  the  globe.  From  the  poor  Afri- 
OSLU,  and  his  eagerness  for  the  ichite  man's  book,  to  the  learn- 
ed Arab  who  is  beginning  to  suspect  his  Alcoran,  and  is  on 
the  eve  of  being  presented  with  the  Bible  of  Christians  in  his 
vernacular  tongue,  we  see  symptoms  full  of  promise,  and  call 
upon  all  our  countrymen  to  share  in  the  glorious  work  of  car- 
rying the  promise  forward  to  accomplishment. 

We  have  only  spoken  of  the  foreign  operations  of  our  so- 
ciety, and  can  merely  divert  to  its  reviving  and  purifying  in- 
fluence in  the  interior  of  Christendom  ;  how  it  recalls  the 
veneration  of  Christians  from  modes  and  vanities  to  the  one 
charter  of  out  faith  ;  how  it  recognizes  the  Bible  as  the  great 
and  only  directory  of  religion  ;  how  it  spreads  the  most  efic'Ct- 
ual  antidote  against  the  corruptions  of  human  systems ;  how 
it  brings  the  good  men  of  all  parties  into  contact  with  one 
another  ;  and  how,  in  the  very  act  of  circulating  the  Bible,  it 
circulates  the  infection  of  its  own  spirit  and  its  own  piety 
along  with  it. 

The  rich  have  done  much  for  the  cause  ;  but  we  invito  the 
men  of  all  ranks  to  share  in  it.     We  addrew  the  lower  order* 


254  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

of  society,  and  wish  to  convince  them  that,  though  the  indi- 
vidual offering  may  be  small,  the  number  of  individuls  is 
great,  and  that  the  accumulation  of  their  littles  will  form  into 
a  mightier  sum  than  all  the  united  gifts  which  the  rich  have 
yet  thrown  into  the  treasury.  A  penny  a  week  from  each 
householder  in  Fife  amounts  to  £4000  a  year.  The  same 
from  each  householder  in  Britain  amounts  to  half  a  million 
in  the  year  ;  and  this  is  a  sum  larger  by  eight  times  than  any 
yearly  income  which  the  Bible  Society  has  yet  received  from 
its  wealthy  and  numerous  subscribers.  It  is  true  that  the 
Missionary  Society  has  also  its  claims  ;  and  it  is  for  you  to 
give  your  own  directions  to  your  own  benevolence.  "VVe  trust 
that  societies  for  such  objects  will  grow  and  multiply  among 
you.  We  do  not  despair  of  seeing  the  day  when  every  parish 
shall  have  a  Christian  society — when  not  a  district  of  the 
land  shall  be  left  uncultivated,  but  shall  yield  a  produce  to 
the  cause  of  the  Savior  ;  when  these  lesser  streams  shall 
form  into  a  mighty  torrent  to  carry  richness  and  fertility  into 
the  dry  and  desolate  regions  of  the  world;  and  when  Britain, 
high  in  arms  and  in  political  influence,  shall  earn  a  more  per- 
manent glory  by  being  the  dispenser  of  light,  and  peace,  and 
the  message  of  Heaven  to  the  remotest  nations. 

We  exercise  no  other  control  over  you  but  that  of  persua- 
sion ;  and  sorry  should  we  be  if  a  single  farthing  came  in  upon 
us  of  constraint,  and  not  of  a  willing  mind.  What  you  give, 
give  cheerfully,  and  let  it  be  no  more  than  you  can  spare. 
There  are  some  who  depend  on  charity  for  their  subsistence, 
and  these  can  never  give  what  they  receive  from  others. 
There  are  some  who  have  not  yet  arrived  at  this  state  of  de- 
pendence, but  are  on  the  very  verge  of  it.  To  them  we  ad- 
dress a  passage  from  the  Bible — "  If  any  provide  not  for  his 
own,  and  specially  for  those  of  his  own  house,  he  hath  denied 
the  faith,  and  is  worse  than  an  infidel."  There  are  others 
again,  and  these,  we  apprehend,  form  by  far  the  most  numer- 
ous class  of  society,  who  can  maintain  themselves  in  hum- 
ble but  honest  independence,  who  can  spare  little  and  not  feel 


FIFE  AND  KINROSS  BIBLE  SOCIETY. 


356 


it,  who  can  do  what  Paul  advises  them,  lay  aside  th'.'ir  pemiv 
a  M^eek,  as  God  hath  prospered  them,  who  can  share  that 
blessedness  which  the  Savior  speaks  of  when  He  says,  that 
"it  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive,"  who,  thoucrh 
they  can  not  equal  their  neighbors  in  the  amount  of  their  do- 
nations, can  bestow  their  something,  and,  at  all  events,  carry 
in  their  bosoms  a  heart  as  warm  to  the  cause,  and  call  down 
as  precious  a  blessing  from  the  God  who  witnesses  it. 

"  What  1"  say  some,  "  will  you  take  from  the  poor  ?"  No : 
we  do  not  take.  It  is  they  who  give  ;  and  show  us  the  man 
who  complains  of  it  ?  To  him  would  we  say,  "  It  is  you,  and 
not  we,  who  do  an  injustice  to  the  poor.  It  is  you  who  im- 
pute to  them  a  grossness  and  a  want  of  generosity  which  do 
not  belong  to  them.  It  is  you  who  have  the  indelicacy  to  sit 
in  judgment  over  their  circumstances  and  feelings.  It  is  you 
who  think  of  them  so  unworthily,  that  you  can  not  conceive 
how  truth  and  benevolence  should  be  objects  to  them,  and 
that  after  they  have  got  the  meat  to  feed,  the  house  to  shel- 
ter, and  the  raiment  to  cover  them,  there  is  nothing  else  that 
they  will  bestow  a  penny  upon."  They  may  not  be  able  to 
express  their  feeling  at  a  suspicion  so  ungenerous,  but  we 
shall  do  it  for  them.  "  We  have  souls  as  well  as  you,  and 
precious  to  our  hearts  is  the  Savior  who  died  for  them.  It 
is  true  we  have  our  distresses;  but  these  have  bound  us  more 
firmly  to  our  Bibles;  and  it  is  the  desire  of  our  hearts  that 
a  gift  so  precious  should  be  sent  to  the  poor  of  other  countries. 
The  word  of  God  is  our  hope  and  our  rejoicing.  The  desire 
that  it  may  be  theirs  also ;  that  the  wandering  savage  may 
know  it  and  be  glad  ;  and  the  poor  negro,  under  the  lash  of 
his  master,  may  learn  of  a  Master  in  heaven,  who  is  full  of 
pity  and  full  of  kindness.  Do  you  think  that  sympathy  for 
such  as  these  is  your  peculiar  attribute?  —  know  that  oiir 
hearts  are  made  of  the  same  materials  with  your  own.  that 
wc  can  feel  as  well  you,  and  out  of  the  earnings  of  a  hard 
and  honest  industry  we  shall  give  an  oflering  to  the  rayif^-: 
nor  shall  we  cease  our  exertions  till  the  message  of  »alvaUoM 


256  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

be  carried  round  the  globe,  and  made  known  to  the  countless 
millions  who  live  in  guilt,  and  who  die  in  darkness.  Yours 
truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 


LETTERS  TO  THE  REV.  DR.  CHARTERS,  OF  WILTON. 
No.  CCXX. 
KiLMANY  Manse,  18th  November^  1812. 

My  dear  Sir — I  have  been  most  wanting  to  the  duty  and 
reverence  I  owe  you  in  not  -writing  sooner.  It  gives  me 
great  concern  to  hear  of  Mrs.  Charters.  I  hope  that  she  may 
recover,  and,  at  all  events,  it  is  my  prayer  that  she  may  be 
supported  in  this  the  day  of  her  visitation,  that  she  may  have 
great  peace  and  joy  in  believing,  and  be  able  to  join  in  the 
triumphant  exclamation  of  the  apostle,  "  Thanks  be  to  God, 
who  giveth  us  the  victory  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord." 

I  have  been  a  good  deal  hurried  since  marriage.  My  wife 
has  read  your  marriage  present  (for  which  accept  our  best 
thanks),  but  I  am  ashamed  to  say  that  I  have  not.  I  have 
been  inquiring  for  "  Henry  on  Meekness,"  but  have  not  found 
it.  Mrs.  Chalmers  is  constitutionally  meek  beyond  most 
women  of  my  acquaintance.  Constitutional  meekness  is  ami- 
able, and  companionable,  and  pleasing,  but  I  would  not  say 
of  it  that  it  was  virtuous  till  it  rested  on  a  religious  principle. 
My  article  on  Christianity  is  now  printing,  I  believe.  I  was 
not  able  to  take  it  in  person  to  Edinburgh  from  being  con- 
fined with  rheumatism.     I  am  now  well  again. 

I  have  received  your  pamphlets,  and  have  given  some  of 
them  away.  I  shall  be  most  happy  to  see  those  on  Justice 
and  Old  Age.  It  would  delight  me  to  pay  you  another  visit 
soon,  but  I  can  not  risk  the  exposure  of  winter,  and  my  trav- 
eling next  summer  will  depend  on  a  number  of  circumstances. 

I  am  sure  you  would  be  charmed  with  the  eighth  Report. 
Our  County  Society  is  doing  nothing,  and,  what  is  worst  of  all, 
it  has  suspended  the  far  more  efficient  operation  of  districts 
and  parishes.     My  parish  has  been  operating  at  the  rate  of 


REV.  DR.  CHARTERS.       • .  257 


£30  a  year  and  upward.  There  is  another  forming  at  Bal- 
merino,  a  contiguous  parish.  This  system  carried  over  the 
face  of  the  county  of  Fife  would  produce  £3000  a  year,  in- 
stead of  the  paltry  £150,  which,  I  understand,  is  all  that  they 
have  been  able  to  realize  on  the  more  extended  scale  oi"  a 
County  Society.  Would  it  not  be  a  fine  spectacle  to  see  the 
parish  system  extended  over  Scotland,  and  a  whole  people 
combining  their  energies  in  a  cause,  the  very  supporting  of 
which  is  an  exercise  of  piety. 

My  prayer  to  God  is  that  He  may  bear  up  your  old  age 
with  His  best  consolations,  that  He  may  bless  you  in  the 
evening  of  life,  and,  when  He  calls  you  hence,  that  He  may 
take  you  to  Himself  and  make  you  forever  happy  in  His  pres- 
ence, 

Mrs.  Chalmers  joins  me  in  compliments,  and  believe  mo 
yours,  with  great  esteem,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCXXI. 

Glasgow,  26tk  December,  1816. 

My  dear  Sir — I  at  one  time  thought  I  should  have  been 
able  to  visit  you  in  the  month  of  November,  but  I  tind  the 
engagements  of  my  new  situation  often  to  thicken  upon  me 
in  such  a  way  as  to  disappoint  all  my  wishes  and  to  disar- 
range all  my  plans.  It  would  be  a  great  pleasure  to  myself 
to  spend  some  days  in  your  neighborhood,  but  at  present  I 
really  can  not  specify  any  future  week  in  which  I  am  sure 
that  it  would  be  altogether  convenient. 

My  health  has  improved  greatly  within  these  few  months, 
partly,  I  believe,  from  my  having  betaken  myself  to  horseman- 
ship, and  partly  from  my  having  shaken  away  from  me  that 
load  of  secular  duties  which,  in  shape  of  attendance  on  the 
various  institutions  of  the  place,  and  of  ministering  in  things 
temporal  to  the  need  of  a  crowded  poj)ulation,  frittered  away 
all  the  time,  and  vulgarized  all  the  habits,  and  put  to  Hiplit 
all  the  literature  and  all  the  spirituality  of  our  clerpyiiK-n. 
This  is  what  I  wrote  to  you  about  formerly  :  and  be  assured. 


258  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

my  dear  sir,  that  all  my  fears,  before  I  entered  Glasgow,  upon 
this  subject  were  fully  realized  by  the  facts  which  met  my 
observation.  And  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  evident  depres- 
sion which  has  taken  place  in  the  theology  and  general  sci- 
ence of  our  city  ministers  is,  in  a  great  measure,  referable  to 
the  vicious  system  of  associating  them  with  so  much  of  the 
public  management  of  city  and  government  affairs. 

Be  kind  enough  to  remember  me  to  Miss  Hardy  and  to  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Usher. 

I  have  no  intention  at  present  of  publishing  my  last  charity 
sermon  in  Edinburgh.  I  am  just  now  in  the  press  with  a  thin 
octavo  volume,  comprising  a  series  of  discourses  on  the  infidel 
argument  of  astronomers  against  the  truth  of  Christianity. 
Fuller,  in  "  The  Gospel  its  own  Witness,"  gives  a  chapter  to 
this  discussion.  I  enter  more  at  large  into  it,  and  shall  send 
you  a  copy  when  it  comes  out,  which  I  expect  to  be  in  the 
end  of  January. 

Mr.  Smith,  a  principal  bookseller  here,  told  me,  some  time 
ago,  that  he  had  sold  more  of  your  sermons  and  of  Blair's  than 
of  any  other  author's. 

I  pray  God  to  bless  and  sustain  the  evening  of  your  days, 
and  that,  whether  we  meet  on  this  side  of  the  grave,  we  may 
be  found  without  spot  and  blameless  on  the  day  of  the  com- 
ing of  our  Lord.     I  am,  my  dear  sir,  yours  most  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCXXII. 

KiRKALDY,  lAth  September,  1820. 
My  dear  Sir — T  can  assure  you  that  it  is  often  matter  of 
regret,  if  not  of  self-reproach  to  me,  that  I  have  not  returned 
your  kind  visit,  and  gratified  my  own  feelings  by  renewing 
my  old  intimacies  with  a  nei^borhood  to  which  I  feel  very 
strongly  attached.  It  is  all  due,  I  can  assure  you,  to  the  force 
of  circumstances  ;  and  were  it  not  for  the  claims  of  relation- 
ship in  Fife,  I  am  quite  sure  that  Roxburghshire  would  be 
the  quarter  of  a  very  early  excursion.     I  am  fearful  of  prom- 


W.  ROGER,  ESQ. 


269 


ising.but  I  can  not  think  of  despairing  oF  seeing  you  once 
more  on  this  side  of  time. 

My  feeble  essays  to  do  good  can  scarcely  yet  bear  to  be 
mentioned.  I  have  certainly  been  amply  supported  in  them 
by  the  aid  of  a  number  of  well-principled  men  in  Glasgow, 
and  I  am  more  persuaded  than  ever  that  it  is  only  through 
a  vigorous  and  well-conducted  ecclesiastical  agency  that  any 
decisive  influence  can  be  brought  to  bear  on  our  vicious  and 
rapidly  deteriorating  population. 

It  is  my  earnest  prayer  that  you  may  inherit  the  blessing 
promised  to  those  who  maintain  a  patient  continuance  in  well- 
doing. I  have  looked  lately  into  Cotton  Mather's  "  Essays  to 
do  Good,"  and  thought  of  you  all  the  while.  I  only  learned 
so  much  as  the  existence  of  this  great  American  philanthro- 
pist a  few  weeks  ago.  That,  by-the-way,  is  one  of  the  miseries 
of  our  great  town.  I  have  no  time  for  reading,  and  have  suf- 
fered the  whole  literature  of  the  country  to  get  before  me. 
Give  my  kindest  compliments  to  Miss  Hardy  when  you  see 
her.  I  ascended  the  Terrace  very  lately,  in  the  hopes  of 
meeting  with  my  old  friend  there  and  learning  of  you  ;  but 
I  found  a  new  name  upon  the  door.  I  beg  to  he  remembered 
to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Usher,  of  Courthill.  May  God  bless  and 
sustain  you.  I  beg  you  to  believe  me,  my  dear  sir,  yours  very 
afiectionately,  Tho.mas  Chal.mers. 

No.  CCXXIII.— To  W.  Roger,  Esq.,  of  Glasgow. 
Charlotte  Street,  \Sth  February,  1817. 

My  dear  Sir — I  was  very  much  touched  and  gratified  by 
the  address  which  was  read  to  me  in  your  presence,  and 
which  pu  had  the  kindness  to  leave  in  my  hands.  I  con- 
sider it  as  peculiarly  valuable  on  two  accounts.  First,  as  an 
expression  of  approbation  and  regard  on  the  part  of  my  hear- 
ers ;  and.  secondly,  as  a  memorial  of  their  deliberate  senti- 
ments on  a  subject  which  has  long  engaged  and  interest"!  my 
own  thoughts. 

The  experience  of  every  month  confirms  me  in  the  opinion 


260  CORRESPONDENCE  OP  DR.  CHALMERS. 

that  a  minister  of  religion  should  be  allowed  to  give  all  his 
time  and  all  his  strength  to  such  objects  as  are  strictly  and 
substantially  religious,  and  that  the  violation  of  this  principle 
not  only  entails  upon  him  a  world  of  personal  vexation  and 
discomfort,  but  that  it  also  goes  to  impair  the  effect  both  of 
his  pulpit  and  parochial  ministrations. 

Were  I  called  upon  to  specify  the  one  measure  by  which 
the  people  of  a  parish  could  contrive  to  throw  the  most  invit- 
ing charm  over  the  situation  of  their  clergyman,  I  should  say, 
by  rendering  such  an  homage  to  the  importance  of  his  em- 
ployment as  to  shield  it  from  every  thing  that  can  at  all  tend 
to  harass  or  to  disturb  it,  and  permitting  him  to  relieve  the 
fatigue  of  study  by  varieties  of  his  own  choosing — by  such  va- 
rieties as  he  himself  finds  to  be  most  congenial  to  his  own 
taste,  and  temper,  and  sense  of  duty,  and  not  by  such  varie- 
ties as  custom,  or  accident,  or  arbitrary  regulations  may  have 
accumulated  upon  his  office  for  years,  and  perhaps  for  gener- 
ations before  he  had  entered  it. 

This  charm  has  been  lately  held  out  to  me,  and  that  too 
for  the  purpose  of  drawing  me  away  from  a  scene  of  duty 
which  I  count  to  be  one  of  the  most  important  within  the 
limits  of  our  National  Establishment ;  and  I  will  frankly  con- 
fess to  you  that  I  am  not  able  to  compute  what  might  have 
been  the  extent  of  its  influence  had  I  not  been  assured,  both 
by  my  experience  of  your  past  services  and  by  the  warmth 
and  sincerity  of  your  present  professions,  that  you  were  will-  * 
ing  to  guard  the  office  I  now  hold  from  all  those  intrusions  by 
which  its  peace  or  its  sanctity  might  be  violated. 

I  feel  myself  placed  on  high  vantage-ground  in  declining 
all  those  personal  services  which  have  for  their  object  the  fur- 
therance of  civil  and  secular  accommodation  among  my  pa- 
rishioners. You  have  empowered  me  to  state — what  I  am 
sure,  from  the  reason  and  liberality  which  characterize  the 
functionaries  of  this  city,  they  will  find  to  be  most  abundant- 
ly satisfying — that  the  public  agency  which  I  withhold  in  my 
own  person  I  am  willing  to  provide  in  a  ten-fold  degree  in  the 


REV.  MR.  CUNNINGHAM.  ««, 


persons  of  others  who  have  kindly  undertaken  to  relieve  rno 
of  every  labor  that  is  not  strictly  professional. 

I  thank  you  most  cordially  for  your  kind  recommendation 
and  offer  in  respect  of  ministerial  assistance,  and  only  lament 
the  necessity  I  am  under  to  accept  of  it.  I  trust  that  it  will 
not  tempt  me  to  remit  my  diligence  in  the  business  of  my  pro- 
fession, and  that  its  whole  efiect  will  be  to  secure,  both  lor  my 
parishioners  and  my  hearers,  the  benefit  of  a  more  entire  min- 
istration. 

With  sincere  prayers  for  the  comfort  and  usefulness  of  our 
future  connection,  and  an  earnest  request  that  you  and  the 
other  gentlemen  with  whom  you  are  associated  inav  give  me 
a  place  in  their  intercessions  at  the  Throne  of  Grace,  I  beg 
leave  to  subscribe  myself,  my  dear  sir,  your  most  affectionate 
friend,  Thomas  Chalmers. 


LETTERS  TO  THE  REV.  J.  W.  CUNNINGHAM,  OF  HARROW, 
LONDON. 

No.  CCXXIV. 

Glasgow.  Sth  January^  1818. 
My  dear  Sir — I  received  your  very  kind  letter  some  time 
ago,  and  do  count  it  a  very  great  refreshment  to  obtain  from 
you  an  occasional  communication.  Since  writing  you  last,  I 
have  had  the  good  fortune  to  receive  your  small  work  on 
•'  Benefit  Societies,"  which  I  can  assure  you  I  read  with  much 
interest  and  satisfaction.  These  institutions  have  certainly 
the  advantage  over  Savings- Banks  which  you  ascribe  to 
them  ;  and,  if  delivered  from  the  accompaniment  of  dissipation 
and  excess  which,  I  am  sorry  to  observe,  go  along  with  thorn 
in  your  part  of  the  country,  might  have  an  important  efiert  on 
the  habits  and  comforts  of  the  lower  orders.  They  genernlly. 
however,  set  out  on  too  liberal  a  system  of  allowances,  which 
brings  them  to  their  termination  in  a  few  years.  And  such 
is  my  conviction  of  the  complete  means  being  with  tho  |VH»r 
themselves  to  be  altogether  independent  of  rehef  from  others, 


262  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

that  I  rejoice  to  observe  any  demonstration  of  this  in  any  way 
that  may  induce  foresight  and  economy  among  them  ;  so  that 
if,  in  point  of  fact,  Savings-Banks  shall  present  a  greater  al- 
lurement to  economy  than  any  other  institution,  I  should  re- 
joice in  their  being  encouraged  and  multiplied  throughout  our 
land. 

You  ask  me  how  I  liked  the  review  of  my  "Discourses"  in 
the  "  Christian  Observer."  I  have  lived  too  long  in  the  rough 
element  of  severity  and  invective  not  to  feel  that  it  treats  me 
with  great  moderation.  There  is  an  evident  tone  of  friend- 
ship about  it  which  would  have  reconciled  me  to  much  great- 
er freedoms  than  it  has  actually  used.  And  I  still  retain  the 
same  feeling  of  kindness  toward  its  conductors,  and  the  same 
opinion  of  its  being  by  far  the  first  of  our  religious  periodicals, 
in  respect  both  of  talent  and  Christian  spirit,  that  I  have  long 
entertained. 

Perhaps  I  ought  to  say  to  you  what  I  honestly  think  and 
feel  of  the  evangelical  clergy  in  the  Church  of  England,  that 
they  are  the  great  Christian  luminaries  of  our  country  at  this 
moment ;  nor,  in  all  the  other  denominations  of  religion  put 
together,  have  I  met  with  a  goodlier  number  of  devoted  and 
spiritual  men  spending  their  zeal,  and  earnestness,  and  talent, 
on  the  best  of  causes.  There  is  one  pecuharity  with  which  I 
feel  myself  most  frequently,  and  I  admit  most  justly  charged, 
and  that  is  a  pleonastic  exhibition  of  the  same  idea.  And 
yet  when  one  thinks  of  the  passage  where  the  power  of  dem- 
onstration is  likened  to  a  hammer  breaking  the  rock  in  pieces, 
who  does  not  feel  that  in  such  a  process  the  hammer  is  often 
directed  to  the  same  point  of  application  ?  And  be  assured 
that  there  never  yet  was  any  cause  carried,  or  any  object 
practically  driven,  but  by  a  succession  of  similar  and  repeated 
strokes.  This  is  the  case  in  Parliament.  It  is  so  also  in  the 
pulpit.  And  though  I  have  no  reason  to  believe  that  I  shall 
ever  contribute  much  to  the  establishment  of  any  right  posi- 
tion, and  the  overthrow  of  any  wrong  one,  yet  I  have  no  doubt 
that  an  extensive  impression  will  never  be  made  on  the  public 


REV.  MR.  CUNNINGHAM.  5,03 


mind  by  a  bare  and  didactic  exhibition  of  truth,  however  rig- 
id and  faultless  the  whole  conduct  of  the  argument  may  be  ; 
and  that,  with  our  nature  constituted  as  it  is,  there  must  be 
reiteration  and  variation,  and  impassioned  urgency. 

I  have  not  had  yet  the  pleasure  of  seeing  your  sermon  on 
the  funeral  of  the  Princess  Charlotte.  Hall  is  eminently 
beautiful  and  impressive,  and  I  really  think  it  among  the  fore- 
most of  his  productions.  My  own  I  am  ashamed  to  speak 
of,  and  indeed  it  can  scarcely  be  intelligible  out  of  (-Jlasgow, 
where  the  question  of  churches  was  perhaps  about  the  next 
in  interest  to  the  main  and  overwhelming  interest  of  that  pe- 
riod. I  feel  some  little  value,  however,  for  the  appendix,  for 
which  I  am  altogether  responsible  on  the  footing  oi  voluntary 
authorship. 

I  long  for  a  more  realizing  sense  of  spiritual  things.  There 
is  a  darkness  which  no  light  of  argument  can  disperse.  There 
is  a  light  which  never  can  be  reached  but  by  knocking  at  the 
door  of  that  sanctuary  that  we  can  not  open.  May  God  make 
to  each  of  us  the  revelation  which  He  maketh  unto  babes  ; 
and  may  such  be  our  fellowship  with  the  Father  and  the 
Son,  as  to  stamp  the  recognizable  character  of  Heaven  on 
our  fellowship  one  with  another. 

Have  you  ever  attended  to  the  doctrine  of  the  disinterested 
love  of  God  ?  I  fear  that  Edwards,  AVitherspoon,  and  the 
American  divines  have  a  little  darkened  the  freeness  of  the 
Gospel  offer  by  their  speculations  on  the  subject.  They  seem 
to  put  all  the  discredit  of  selfishness  on  the  love  of  gratitude, 
and  would  suspend  the  act  of  acceptance  by  faith,  till,  some- 
how or  other,  it  could  be  made  contemporaneous  with  the 
dawn  of  love  to  God  on  account  of  His  own  excellencies. 
This  I  do  think  is  a  forbidding  of  those  whom  God  has  not 
forbidden,  and  I  can  noft  but  preach  the  Gospel  without  re- 
serve to  all  men  in  every  state  of  moral  disease. 

Do  let  me  hear  from  you  soon.  May  I  request  you  to  pive 
my  kindest  remembrances  to  Mr.  "Wilson  when  you  see  him. 
There  is  no  mail  in  the  world  whom  I  have  a  greater  love 


264  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

for  than  Mr.  Wilberforce  ;  but  I  have  such  an  impression  of 
the  way  in  which  he  is  harassed  and  overdone  by  extensive 
calls  upon  his  attendance,  that  I  am  fearful  to  intrude  upon 
him  even  with  compliments.  I  am,  my  dear  sir,  yours  most 
affectionately,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCXXV. 

Anstruther,  11th  August,  1819. 

My  dear  Sir — I  should  have  acknowledged  your  kind  com- 
munication long  ago.  I  am  here  on  a  visit  to  my  mother  and 
for  sea-bathing,  having  reduced  myself  to  a  state  of  consider- 
able languor,  as  inimical  to  mental  as  to  bodily  exertion.  I 
observed  with  the  utmost  gratitude  your  readiness  to  assist 
me  in  the  matter  of  my  publications.  I  feel  my  thorough 
need  of  such  assistance  ;  and  have  to  confess  a  very  uncouth 
and  primeval  ignorance  of  many  of  the  proprieties  of  our  lan- 
guage, aggravated  as  it  is  in  my  case  by  carelessness  and  a 
kind  of  impatience  to  arrive  at  the  conclusion  of  every  under- 
taking. 

Since  I  received  yours,  I  have  seen  the  "  Christian  Observ- 
er" upon  my  last  work — very  kind,  and  breathing  the  par- 
tialities of  friendship.  He  speaks  of  sensibihty  to  the  lash  of 
criticism.  On  this  subject  I  have  often  admired  a  couplet  in 
Beattie's  "  Minstrel," 

*'  Him,  who  ne'er  listened  to  the  voice  of  praise, 
The  silence  of  neglect  can  ne'er  appal." 

It  were  untrue  to  general  nature,  as  well  as  to  my  own  in- 
dividual experience,  did  I  profess  to  have  fulfilled  the  first  of 
the  above  lines,  and  therefore  have  no  title  to  the  privilege 
expressed  in  the  second.  But  it  is  good  to  know  the  way  of 
arriving  at  that  privilege,  even  to  love  the  praise  of  God,  and 
not  the  praise  of  men.  Nor  do  I  know  a  more  memorable 
remark  of  Foster's,  than  that,  of  all  the  propensities  of  un- 
renewed nature,  the  appetite  for  praise  needs  to  be  kept  under 
the  severest  castigation. 

By-the-way,  have  you  seen  his  *•  Missionary  Sermon  ?" 


REV.  MR.  CUNNINGHAM.  266 


What  a  marvelous  composition  ! — how  rich  in  sentiment,  and 
how  replete  with  matter  so  weighty  and  dense,  that  in  my 
hands  it  would  have  been  expanded  into  a  large  octavo  vol- 
ume ere  I  could  have  felt  it  to  be  in  a  right  condition  lor 
being  addressed  to  the  general  mind  of  the  country.  1  under- 
rate, I  believe,  the  capacity  of  my  readers  ;  and  in  my  anxiety 
to  convey  a  lucid  impression,  I  nourish  a  diseased  tendency  to 
useless  and  excessive  illustration. 

I  saw  one  of  your  excellent  ones  of  the  Church  of  England 
lately,  Mr.  Sluart  of  Percy  Chapel.  I  have  now  seen  many 
of  the  mostdistinguishedof  both  our  Establishments,  and,  with- 
out flattery,  there  is  one  mighty  point  of  superiority  that  you 
have  over  us.  You  know  that  a  man  may  look  with  an  ob- 
servant eye  upon  a  particular  afiection,  and  yet  not  possess 
the  affection  itself  To  have  a  just  perception  of  the  laws 
and  the  phenomena  of  anger,  it  is  not  necessary  to  have  an 
irritable  constitution  ;  and  it  is  not  the  most  passionate  who 
are  worst  fitted  to  acquire  the  metaphysics  of  human  passion. 
Now  this  is  just  as  true  of  our  good  as  of  our  bad  feelings.  It 
is  just  as  true  of  the  spiritual  as  of  the  sensual  part  of  our  na- 
ture; and  I  do  think  that  while  the  orthodox  of  our  Church 
come  forth  with  their  didactic  expositions  of  Christianity,  and 
intellectually  assign  the  right  place  to  faith,  and  love,  and 
hohness,  the  evangelical  of  yours  show  forth  all  these  graces 
in  real  and  living  exemplification.  We  theorize  about  the 
virtues  of  the  new  creature  :  you  actually  breathe  these  vir- 
tues. I  have  seen  many  good  epistles  written  with  pen  and 
ink,  and  all  about  Christ  too,  by  our  clergy  ;  but  I  have  not 
seen  so  many  living  epistles  among  them.  \\e  talk  about 
religion  ;  you  talk  religion.  And  as  far  as  I  have  remarked, 
while  the  matter  has  come  as  abundantly  to  us  in  word  and 
even  in  argument  (Aoycj,-  either  verbo  01  ratione),  it  has  come 
far  more  abundantly  to  you  in  power. 

When  in  the  same  room  with  Mr.  Stuart,  I  felt  as  m  a 
pure  and  holy  atmosphere,  and  learned  how  greatly  more 
efficacious,  in  'the  way  of  especial  influence  upon  others,  if 

V  M 


266  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


the  devotion  which  emanates  from  an  actually  renewed  hea.c, 
than  the  demonstration  which  emanates  from  an  able  and 
enlightened  understanding. 

I  have  seen  the  tracts  of  some  of  your  seceders.  I  would 
call  them  able  and  impressive  expositions  of  one  half  of  the 
truth.  Why  are  they  more  fearful  of  touching  on  the  per- 
sonal graces  of  the  believer  than  the  apostles  Were  before 
them  ?  Why  will  they  only  look  to  the  sun  through  the 
open  window  of  a  chamber,  when  the  first  teachers  looked 
also  to  the  light,  and  heat,  and  visibility  which  were  intro- 
duced through  the  open  window  into  the  chamber  itself? 
Still  it  is  most  true,  and  worthy  of  all  acceptation,  that  with- 
out the  sun  and  without  the  open  window  all  would  be  void, 
and  dark,  and  cheerless  in  the  apartment.  Still  it  is  true  that 
the  Gospel  attitude  is  that  of  looking  unto  Jesus,  and  behold- 
ing with  open  face  the  glory  of  the  Lord.  But  why  do  Anti- 
nomians  obliterate  the  succeeding  clause,  about  being  changed 
into  the  same  image  from  glory  to  glory,  even  as  by  the  Spirit 
of  the  Lord  ?  With  best  wishes,  and  many  prayers  both  for 
your  personal  and  ministerial  comfort,  believe  me,  my  dear 
sir,  yours  most  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCXXVL 

Glasgow,  25th  March,  1823. 

My  dear  Sir — I  should  have  replied  to  your  kind  letter  of 
the  26th  of  December  long  ago,  but  I  was  then  in  sad  agita- 
tion about  my  purposed  movement  to  St.  Andrew's,  and  am 
still  in  a  state  of  great  engrossment  with  duties  and  prepara- 
tions of  various  sorts.  I  have,  however,  now  the  comfortable 
prospect  of  at  length  being  unwarped  out  of  a  .situation,  the 
fatigues  and  details  of  which  I  at  length  found  to  be  utterly 
incompatible  with  the  attention  which  I  conceive  due  to  such 
distinct  and  general  objects  as  have  been  offered  to  me. 

In  regard  to  a  topic  for  a  missionary  sermon,  I  at  one  time 
thought  highly  of  the  civilizing  influence  of  Christianity,  as 
an  argument  fitted  to  propitiate  those  who  were  indifferent  to 


REV.  MR.  CUNNINGHAM.  267 


the  cause  on  its  higher  and  more  appropriate  merits.  My 
experience,  however,  has  led  me  to  distrust  the  efhcary  of 
all  those  attempts  which  are  made  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
ciliating  to  a  Christian  enterprise  those  who  are  not  Chris- 
tians ;  and,  after  all,  I  am  more  disposed  to  confide  the  whole 
hopes  of  success  to  the  strict  and  sacred  operation  of  evan- 
gelical motives  of  men  of  evangelical  minds,  though  I  can 
not  deny,  at  the  same  time,  that  the  earth  may  be,  and  often 
has  been,  made  to  lielp  the  woman. 

What  would  you  think  of  the  universality  of  the  law  writ- 
ten in  the  heart  as  an  invitation  to  missionary  undertakings? 
There  is  no  controverting  the  existence  of  a  moral  sense 
among  the  rudest  barbarians — the  accusings  and  the  excusings 
of  it  within  them — insomuch  that  the  idea  of  sin  is  at  once 
understood  among  them  without  a  formal  or  circumlocutory 
definition.  Thus  in  all  countries  you  have  a  ground  upon 
which  you  can  at  once  enter — a  John  the  Baptist  in  every 
heart,  who  has  already  in  some  measure  prepared  the  way  of 
the  Lord,  precursors  even  in  the  strangest  territories  who  arc 
there  before  you,  and  whose  office  it  is  to  make  your  message 
welcome,  or  at  least  intelligible  ;  as  much,  in  fact,  of  moral 
intimation,  already  given  unto  all,  as  will  secure,  and  in  a  ju- 
dicial way,  their  acquittal  or  their  condemnation  when  we 
go  forth  preaching  unto  all — enough  to  guide  them  to  the  un- 
derstanding and  reception  of  the  Gospel  if  they  follow  the 
light  that  is  already  in  them,  and  enough  to  attach  to  them 
the  most  fearful  of  penalties  if  they  reject  or  turn  from  it.  1 
am  aware  that  within  the  short  compass  of  a  letter  I  can  not 
qualify  enough  so  as  to  free  the  argument  of  all  exceptions, 
but  you  will  perceive  in  the  general  how  an  impressive  rea- 
soning on  the  side  of  the  missionary  cause  might  be  built  on 
the  universal  moral  light  which,  however  obscurely,  is  spread 
over  the  world — a  light,  at  all  events,  that  enters  into  the 
character  and  conduct,  and  so  leaves  an  accusing  or  rcstlew 
conscience  in  every  heart;  thus  preparing  the  way  for  the 
tidings  of  a  Savior,  and  making  Him  precious  to  some,  while 


268  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


'o  others  He  is  the  savor  of  death  unto  death.  I  should  be 
much  comlorted  by  a  letter  from  you.  I  am  still  hopeful  of 
being  ready,  on  English  Pauperism,  by  the  month  of  May  or 
June.  Believe  me  to  be,  my  dear  sir,  yours  most  affection- 
ately^ Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCXXVII. 

Edinburgh,  17 th  March,  1832. 

My  dear  Sir — I  have  asked  Mr.  Whittaker  to  send  you  a 
"  Letter  to  the  Royal  Commissioners  for  the  Visitation  of  Col- 
leges in  Scotland,"  lately  printed  by  me  ;  and  my  precise 
reason  for  so  doing  is,  that  you  might  be  enabled  to  estimate 
the  justice  of  your  friend  Lord  A.'s  complaint  against  me,  be- 
cause of  an  offensive  communication  which  I  had  presumed 
to  make  to  him  and  his  fellow-commissioners. 

I  am  in  all  my  principles  and  feelings  a  thorough  Conserv- 
ative— none  more  so.  But  they  are  our  Tory  corruption- 
ists,  who  have  brought  us  into  our  present  helpless  situation. 
There  was  no  rudeness  in  the  manner  of  my  communication 
that  could  be  alleged  as  at  all  offensive.  But  the  substance 
of  it  was  disagrejeable  to  his  lordship,  who  dislikes  honesty 
and  truth  when  associated  with  independence. 

If  the  commissioners  shall  respond  to  my  statements,  am 
I  at  liberty  to  notice  in  any  future  argument  how  unpala- 
table my  memorial  was  to  Lord  A.  ? 

I  have  written  Mr.  Collins  to  send  Whittaker  copies  of  my 
"Eight  Years'  Experience  in  Glasgow,"  if  the  pamphlet  be 
yet  in  print.  I  should  really  like  you  to  see  it.  I  am,  my 
dear  sir,  yours  most  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

I  shall  be  most  thankful  for  any  abstract  which  you  may- 
publish  of  my  views  on  Pauperism.  T.  C. 

No.  CCXXVIII— To  Rev.  Dr.  Wright,  of  Stirling. 

Glasgow,  14//t  February,  1823. 

My  dear  Sir — I  write  under  the  impulse  of  lively  grat- 


KEY.  DR.  SMITH.  059 


itude  to  yourself  for  what  you  wrote  of  me  to  Mr.  Muir,  who 
was  kind  enough  to  read  it  to  me.  I  hold  it  to  be  a  njost  ex- 
cellent recommendation  that  I  should  write  the  number  of 
sermons  which  you  suggest,  and  I  sincerely  trust  that  it  will 
not  be  lost  upon  me.  It  is  my  desire  to  join  in  the  sentiment 
of  the  Psalmist  on  this  subject,  "  If  I  forget  thee,  0  Jerusa- 
lem, let  my  right  hand  forget  her  cunning,  and  let  my  tongue 
cleave  to  the  roof  of  my  mouth,  if  I  do  not  prefer  thee  above 
my  chiefest  joy."  It  is  satisfactory  to  myself  that  I  have 
ever  held  a  professorship  as  a  higher  station,  even  speaking 
Christianly,  than  a  church.  1  never  quilted  this  sentiment, 
even  when  I  had  not  the  most  distant  hope  of  a  chair;  and 
now  that  I  have  had  the  offer  of  one,  and  accejjled  of  it,  I 
have  just  acted  on  the  principle  whicli  I  at  all  times  lelt 
and  have  at  all  times  avowed.  But  it  is  still  a  matter  of 
great  thankfulness  to  me  when  I  can  get  any  of  my  brethren 
among  the  senior  clergy  to  view  the  thing  even  with  toler- 
ance, though  not  with  positive  approbation.  I  am  much  com- 
forted by  the  testimonies  of  Dr.  Davidson  and  Mr.  Gordon,  of 
Edinburgh.  I  request  a  place  in  your  prayers,  i^hould  I  be 
spared,  I  look  forward  now  with  great  confidence  to  the  oc- 
casional enjoyment  of  your  society.  Here  I  was  overborne, 
and  had  no  time  for  general  intercourse  or  general  objects. 
The  unbounded  leisure  and  command  of  summer  give  me  a 
scope  for  all  sorts  of  excursion,  whether  of  mind  or  body. 
With  kindest  compliments  to  Mrs.  Wright,  and  earnest  request 
that  you  would  send  rne  a  letter,  I  entreat  you  to  believe  me, 
my  dear  sir,  yours  very  aflectionately, 

Thomas  Chalmkrs. 


LETTERS  TO  REV.  DR.  SMYTH,  OF  GLASGOW. 
No.  CCXXIX. 

My  dear  Sir— I  reached  this  in  safety  about  eight  o'.lock. 
ind  have  comfortable  prospects  of  my  journey.      And  I  can 


270  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


assure  you  that  it  forms  no  small  addition  to  my  comfort 
when  I  reflect  on  the  arrangements  that  I  have  left  behind 
me,  and  by  which  you  have  kindly  consented  to  keep  stead- 
fastly and  constantly  by  ray  congregation  of  St.  John's  till  I 
shall  return  to  Glasgow  ;  and  you  will  indeed  confer  upon  me 
a  great  benefit  by  resisting  all  the  urgency  that  might  be 
employed  for  the  purpose  of  drawing  you  to  preach  elsewhere. 
I  esteem  it  a  very  fortunate  circumstance,  that  by  your  serv- 
ices, which  are  so  satisfactory  to  my  people,  I  feel  disburden- 
ed of  the  uneasiness  that  I  might  otherwise  have  when  away 
from  them  ;  and  that  I  am  thus  set  at  large  for  the  prosecu- 
tion of  a  journey  which  I  deem  to  be  most  important,  in  a 
M^ay  that  is  satisfactory  to  myself. 

Yet  be  assured  that  a  single  and  undivided  attention  to  the 
pecuUar  work  of  a  Christian  minister  is  the  way  of  peace  and 
of  pleasantness.  I  envy  those  who  have  escaped  the  distrac- 
tion of  all  other  pursuits  and  all  other  speculations.  And  yet 
I  can  not  blame  myself  for  my  labors  on  the  argument  of 
Pauperism;  and  I  sincerely  hope  that,  instead  of  going  forth 
upon  it,  it  has  intercepted  and  laid  hold  of  me,  so  that  I  have 
only  followed  the  call  of  Providence  and  duty  when  I  suffered 
myself  to  be  involved  in  it. 

Tell  Mrs.  Chalmers  that  it  may  yet  be  three  days  ere  I 
finish  the  long  folio  epistle  which  I  am  preparing  for  her.  I 
have  this  night  nearly  completed  one  page  of  it.  Do  believe 
me,  my  dear  sir,  yours  very  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCXXX. 

St.  Andrews,  20th  November,  1823. 
My  dear  Sir — I  enjoy  very  much  the  repose  and  quietness 
of  my  new  situation,  and  promise  to  get  on  very  comfortably  ; 
but  be  very  sure  that  all  the  felicity  of  the  circumstances  im- 
mediately around  me  is  not  unmingled  with  much  regret 
and  tenderness  because  of  those  in  Glasgow  whom  I  have 
left  behind  me.  I  am  not  insensible  to  the  force  and  the 
value  of  your  friendship  in  particular,  and  have  sometimes 


REV.  DR.  SMYTH.  g?! 


thought  of  my  own  apparently  cold  and  passive  exhibition 
under  the  many  ardent  demonstrations  that  you  have  Riven 
of  It.  The  truth  is,  that  my  extreme  occui)ations  in  CJlaspow 
put  me  into  a  state  that  was  quite  unnatural,  and  now  only 
have  I  begun  rightly  to  estimate  and  to  icel  the  manifold 
kindnesses  that  surrounded  me  there.  Yours  most  truly  and 
affectionately,  Tiicmas  Ciial.mkrs. 

No.  CCXXXI. 

BuRNTisjLAND,  2lst  Septcmbfr,  1832. 

My  very  dear  Sir — VV^e  have  this  day  received  the  sad 
intimation  of  Mrs.  Smyth's  death,  and  you  may  well  believe 
that  both  I  and  Mrs.  Chalmers  feel  very  deeply  for  you  un- 
der this  afflictive  dispensation. 

It  is  our  earnest  prayer  that  the  Heavenly  Comforter  may 
be  with  you  in  your  present  trying  circumstances,  when  all 
earthly  comfort  and  sympathy  are  so  unavailing,  and  may  He 
who  grieves  not  willingly  any  of  His  children  pour  a  healing 
and  a  sanctifying  medicine  into  your  cup  of  discipline. 

That  uncertainty  of  life  and  awfulness  of  death  which  we 
often  preach  we  do  not  often  practically  or  adequately  feel. 
But  never,  I  should  imagine,  does  death  make  a  more  realiz- 
ing demonstration  of  itself  than  in  circumstances  like  yours, 
where  it  has  made  inroads  upon  your  dwelling,  and  torn  asun- 
der the  nearest  and  dearest  of  all  earthly  relationships. 

This  is  a  sore  bereavement.  May  your  widowed  heart  find 
its  solace  and  relief  in  the  promises  of  the  Gospel.  May  its 
faith  bear  you  up  amid  the  agonies  of  wounded  nature,  and 
then  shall  this  visitation,  tiiough  not  joyous  but  grievous,  yield 
unto  you  the  peaceable  fruit  of  righteousness. 

My  heart  bleeds  both  when  I  think  of  yourself  and  when  I 
think  of  your  motherless  children.  Cast  the  whole  burden 
upon  the  Lord  and  He  will  sustain  it.  What  power  and  pro- 
ciousness  of  adaptation  do  we  often  meet  in  short  aixJ  single 
clauses  of  the  Bible  ;  and  I  doubt  not,  my  dear  sir.  that  your 
now  exercised  and  experienced  spirit  has  by  this  tune  niado 


272  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

fresh  discoveries  both  of  the  divine  wisdom  and  the  divine  ten- 
derness which  are  stamped  upon  its  pages. 

Mrs.  Chalmers  unites  with  me  in  deep  condolence  both  for 
you  and  your  afflicted  family,  and  with  the  sincerest  regards 
of  us  both,  ever  believe  me,  my  dear  sir,  yours  with  utmost 
sympathy  and  regard,  Thomas  Chalmers. 


LETTERS  TO  THE  REV.  DR.  MACFARLAN,  OF  GREENOCK. 
No.  CCXXXIL 

St.  Andrews,  \6th  ^pril,  1824. 

My  very  dear  Sir — I  can  not  resist  the  impulse  of  my 
present  joy  and  gratitude,  on  the  receipt  of  a  letter  from  Glas- 
gow this  morning,  by  which  I  am  led  to  cherish  the  pleasing 
and  delightful  hope  that  you  may  be  minister  of  St.  John's. 

Just  now  I  am  in  a  perfect  hurricane  of  business,  preparing 
for  our  public  examinations,  and  I  shall  just  therefore  say,  for 
your  encouragement,  that  I  stake  my  whole  credit  on  your 
finding  it  the  easiest  and  most  manageable  city  parish  in 
Scotland,  and  that  what  many  deem  the  bugbears  are  indeed 
the  facilities  of  the  parish.  I  shall  be  most  happy,  my  dear  sir, 
to  enter  with  you  upon  any  details  that  you  may  require  of 
me,  and  at  present  I  can  do  no  more  than  bless  the  Provi- 
dence that  has  evolved  itself  in  a  way  so  gracious.  Do  be- 
lieve me,  my  dear  sir,  yours  most  affectionately  and  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCXXXIII. 

St.  Andrews,  ^th  September,  1824. 

My  dear  Sir — I  most  honestly  rejoice  at  the  pleasure  you 
feel  in  your  situation.  I  think  that  you  will  find  this  much 
enhanced  by  your  parochial  visitations,  in  which  exercise  I 
had  always  more  satisfaction  than  in  any  other  which  be- 
longed to  the  office. 

As  to  my  sacrament  examinations,  I  requested  from  the 
pulpit  that  all  who  intended  to   communicate  for  the  first 


REV.  DR.  MACFARLAN. 


273 


time  should  meet  me  in  the  vestry  at  one  particular  hour- 
say  10  P.M.  upon  a  Tuesday.  I  had  previously  marked  on 
little  slips  of  paper  "  half  past  ten,"  "  eleven,"  "  half  past 
eleven,"  &c.,  M^hich  I  dealt  out  to  those  assembled  individual- 
ly, and  upon  which  each  came  back  to  mc  at  his  own  speci- 
fied time  that  forenoon — and  this  aflbrded  mc  half  an  hour's 
conversation  with  each.  The  length  of  this  exercise  to  my- 
self depended  on  the  number  who  came  forward  ;  and  if  that 
number  was  too  great,  I  gave  slips  of  paper  for  the  next  day 
(Wednesday)  at  "ten,"  "half past  ten,"  "eleven,"  See,  mark- 
ing Wednesday,  however,  to  separate  them  iVom  the  catechu- 
mens of  Tuesday.  1  thus  sometimes  in  one,  and  at  most  in 
two  forenoons,  got  over  the  main  burden  of  my  sacramt-nlal 
examinations.  If  any  did  not  satisfy  me,  I  prescribed  chap- 
ters of  the  Bible  for  their  reading,  and  assigned  the  time  when 
they  should  call  upon  me  in  my  own  house  for  further  conver- 
sation. I  must  say,  however,  and  1  was  surprised  at  the  dis- 
covery (for  which,  however,  a  satisfactory  cause  may  be  as- 
signed), that  I  found  the  candidates  i'or  the  Lord's  table  in 
Glasgow,  generally  speaking,  to  be  much  better  prej)ared  than 
those  in  Kilmany. 

Besides  all  this,  I,  on  the  recommendation,  and  according 
to  the  practice  of  Dr.  M'Gill,  convened  all  whom  I  resolved 
to  admit  as  communicants  in  the  vestry  at  3  P.M.,  on  the 
Wednesday  previous  to  the  fast-day,  when  I  gave  them  an  ad- 
dress in  cumulo,  and  then  distril)uted  to  them  their  ti»ken8 
and  a  certificate  that  I  had  that  day  admitted  them  to  be 
communicants.  It  was  generally  in  the  interval  between 
the  separate  conversations  and  this  meeting  that  each  pot  a 
testimonial  from  the  proper  elder,  and  showed  it  before  I  gave 
the  token.  At  the  end  of  each  separate  conversation,  I  pave 
to  the  individual  on  a  slip  of  paper  the  day  and  hour  of  thii 
general  address  as  a  memorandum. 

Let  me  entreat  that  you  will  neither  be  over-fafipued  by 
your  visitations  nor  overwhelmed  by  your  sacramental  Mork. 
I  shall  be  most  happy  at  all  times  to  furnish  any  details  thai 
M  2 


274  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


may  be  required  of  me.      I  am,  my  dear  sir,  yours  very 
truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCXXXIV. 

Edinburgh,  21st  December,  1842, 
My  dear  Sir — I  have  seen  Dr.  Aberccombie,  and  attempt- 
ed to  rectify  and  undeceive  him  as  to  my  desire  of  hastening 
or  precipitating  the  crisis.  The  truth  is,  that  the  success  of 
my  attempts  is  directly  fitted  to  avert  a  crisis,  if  any  thing 
will.  Will  you  look  at  Regulation  Seventh  of  the  inclosed  ? 
and  I  trust  you  will  allow  the  right  middle  way  is  to  be  2^f'0- 
msio7iaUy  in  readiness  for  the  worst.  I  also  send  the  copy 
of  a  subscription  paper,  which  is  also  frovhional.  Such  an 
attitude  of  preparation  as  I  long  and  labor  for  M'ould  place  the 
Church  on  right  vantage-ground  for  negotiating  w^ith  govern- 
ment on  the  footing  of  an  independent  party.  Whether  with 
or  without  a  general  meeting  of  your  congregation,  an  asso- 
ciation, whether  congregational  or  parochial,  could  be  easily 
got  up  any  where.  Our  association  at  Morningside  yields  al- 
ready at  the  rate  of  .£250  a  year.  Oh,  when  will  men  know 
how  to  discriminate  between  what  is  an  imaginative  picture 
and  what  a  sober  and  practical  reality  I  I  ever  am,  my  dear 
sir,  yours  most  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCXXXV. 

Edinburgh,  4/A  August,  1845. 

My  dear  Sir — I  now  sit  down  to  give  you  my  reasons 
why  I  can  not  attend  the  Assembly  at  Inverness.  They  may 
be  summed  up  in  two  : 

First,  There  is  something  more  than  personal  inclination 
on  my  part — there  is  a  positive  feeling  of  duty  that  has  re- 
solved me  henceforth  to  live  the  life  of  a  student.  For  this 
purpose  1  have  already  signified  by  a  formal  act  my  retire- 
ment from  the  public  business  of  the  Church.  It  were  a  re- 
scinding of  that  act,  and  the  exposure  of  myself  again  to  other 
and  future  applications,  should  I  go  to  Inverness.     It  is  not 


REV.  DR.  MACFARLAN.  275 


the  time  taken  up  with  that  solitary  movement,  but  it  is  the 
struggle  that  I  should  have  with  subsequent  applications, 
which  I  am  most  anxious  to  save.  And  mean  while  I  issue 
these  refusals  with  a  clear  conscience;  for  truly  it  is  a  higher 
department  to  have  to  do  with  the  understandings  and  con- 
sciences of  my  students,  than  to  wear  out  any  more  of  my  lile 
in  the  outward  business  of  the  house  of  God.     But, 

Secondly,  That  business  is  infinitely  better  done  by  the 
timely  retirement  of  the  veterans  Irom  the  stage,  and  the  con- 
sequent calling  up  of  younger  and  stronger  men.  I  am  for- 
tified in  this  idea  by  two  very  recent  examples.  I  was  urged 
to  be  a  member  of  the  last  Assembly,  and  such  was  the  over- 
weening importance  attached  to  this  by  some,  that  they  ab- 
surdly anticipated  a  decay  of  interest  in  the  Assembly  should 
I  not  be  there.  Now,  I  put  it  to  yourself — Do  you  ever  rec- 
ollect an  Assembly,  the  proceedings  of  which  were  conducted 
in  a  finer  spirit,  and  with  higher  ability,  and  with  greater  ef- 
fect upon  the  public  mind  ?  Again,  Mr.  Guthrie  applied  to 
me  to  launch  the  Manse  Scheme  at  the  first  meeting  about 
it  which  he  held  in  Glasgow.  This  also  I  re^^isled  ;  and  is 
not  that  scheme  progressing  at  a  rate  most  encouraging  to  all 
the  friends  of  the  Church?  I  perfectly  agree  with  you  in 
thinking  that  the  Assembly  of  Inverness,  now  that  it  is  de- 
termined on,  should  be  made  as  impressive  as  possible,  so  that 
the  larger  the  confluence  to  it  from  all  parts  the  better.  This 
I  am  urging  upon  all  my  acquaintances  who  should  and  can 
go,  whether  they  are  members  or  not.  But  for  myself,  it  is 
out  of  the  question.  Will  you  forgive  me  if  I  state  an  illustra- 
tion which  has  occurred  to  me  in  connection  with  this  sub- 
ject ?  To  parade  me  onward  to  Inverness  appears  to  me  as 
ludicrous  as  to  parade  thitherward  a  congeries  of  old  bones  ; 
for  it  strongly  reminds  me  of  the  delusion  under  which  Cob- 
bett  labored  when  he  brought  Tom  Paine's  bones  from  Amer- 
ica, and  carried  them  through  England,  in  the  hope  that  they 
woulfi  operate  as  a  charm  in  every  neighborhood  wherever 
he  presented  them.  Ever  believe  me,  my  dear  sir,  yours  most 
truly^  Tho.mas  Chalmers. 


276  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


No.  CCXXXVI. 

Edinburgh,  7th  August^  1845. 

My  dear  Sir — Our  two  last  letters  crossed  each  other.  In 
regard  to  my  going  to  Inverness  for  the  purpose  of  an  address 
on  the  Sustentation  Fund,  I  beg  to  submit  the  two  following 
considerations  : 

In  the  first  place,  it  has  been  my  uniform  experience  that 
the  Associations  have  remained  as  sluggish  and  lethargic  aft- 
er such  an  address  as  previous  to  its  delivery.  Witness  my 
Assembly's  address  at  Glasgow,  and  my  more  recent  addresses 
there,  since  which  time  the  Associations  just  yield  as  little  as 
ever.  The  only  way  of  advancing  the  Sustentation  Fund  is 
by  an  agency  who  might  severally  deal  with  each  of  the  lo- 
calities piecemeal  and  at  close  quarters.  I  did  no  sensible 
good  by  a  series  of  at  least  twenty  public  addresses  in  the 
north  of  Scotland.  All  the  good  I  have  done  is  by  corre- 
spondence or  personal  converse,  either  in  my  own  person  or 
the  persons  of  the  agents  whom  I  employed. 

But,  2dly,  My  feelings  and  principles  on  the  subject  are 
well  known,  and  more  especially  my  strong  dissatisfaction 
with  a  number  of  the  Highland  ministers  and  congregations. 
On  the  other  hand,  they  do  not  at  all  sympathize  with  me  in 
my  sense  of  the  religious  importance  of  this  subject.  They 
call  it  secular,  and  seem  to  speak  as  if  my  confidence  was 
placed  in  carnal  weapons.  This  was  the  feeling,  I  afterward 
heard,  of  the  men  whom  I  dealt  with  at  Arran,  and  1  believe 
it  to  be  a  pretty  general  feeling  in  the  north.  Now,  put  these 
two  considerations  together  ;  first,  my  general  experience  of 
the  uselessnoss  of  these  addresses  ;  and,  secondly,  my  special 
experience  of  the  positive  dislike  to  the  subject  in  the  north; 
and  then  I  ask  you  to  conceive  with  what  utter  heartlessness, 
or  rather  with  w^hat  inward  recoil  of  spirit  I  behooved  to  go 
to  Inverness,  there  to  obtrude  an  unpalatable  subject  upon  an 
unwilling  auditory — I,  who  am  not  a  member,  and  would  be 
felt  by  many  as  a  most  unwelcome  interloper  were  I  to  go 


DIRECTIONS  OxN  PRACTICAL  CHARITY. 


277 


upon  such  an  errand.  Nothing,  my  dear  sir.  could  force  a 
way  through  such  a  barrier  but  a  special  invitation  fn.m  the 
Assembly  where  they  have  met,  and  this  too  at  the  instance 
of  twenty,  thirty,  or  forty  Highland  ministers  themselves  •  alt- 
er which,  and  when  they  had  put  the  censorial  stall' into  my 
hand,  I  should  feel  at  freedom  to  wield  it  with  all  faithful- 
ness, though  at  the  same  time  I  hope  with  all  delicacy.  But 
be  assured  that  there  are  paragraphs  in  your  closing  address 
to  the  last  Assembly  which  will  do  infinitely  more  good  to  the 
Sustentation  Fund  than  all  I  could  hope  to  do  by  going  to 
Inverness.     Ever  beheve  me,  my  dear  sir,  yours  most  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 


No.  CCXXXVII.  —  In  Reply  to  a  Letter  requesting 
SOME  Directions  on  the  Subject  of  Practical  Charity. 

Glasgow,  6th  November,  1821. 

My  dear  Sir — I  received  a  letter  some  days  ago  from  the 
person  who  signs  himself  "  Christianus,"  and  with  which  I 
would  have  been  still  more  gratified  had  he  subscribed  his  real 
name. 

I  think  that  the  best  school  for  benevolence  is  a  limited 
district,  which  it  is  competent  for  any  individual  to  assume  as 
the  field  in  which  he  chooses  to  exercise  his  philanthropy.  I 
would  take  one  of  the  poorest  vicinities  in  the  whole  town, 
and  measure  off  for  myself  a  population  of,  say  fifty  or  a  hund- 
red families,  and  the  topic  of  introduction  1  should  choose 
would  not  be  an  inquiry  into  their  temporal  necessities  (for 
this  might  call  forth  a  reaction  most  appalling  to  the  adven- 
turer, and  most  corrupting  to  the  people  whom  he  means  to 
benefit),  but  rather  an  inquiry  into  the  state  of  health  and 
the  education  of  the  young;  or  the  accommodation  that  thcro 
is  with  respect  to  schools  and  churches;  or  somothing.  in 
short,  that  would  begin  your  acquaintance  with  the  people 
without  exciting  any  sordid  or  mercenary  expectation.  You 
will  not  find  it  so  formidable  an  affair  to  seen  re  a  welcome 


278  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


from  the  families,  among  whom  you  may  reiterate  as  often 
as  you  will  on  the  same  topics,  but  never  in  the  ostensible  ca- 
pacity of  an  almoner,  assuming  always  the  higher  capacity  of 
a  friend  to  their  children,  and  a  zealous  advocate  or  promoter 
of  all  that  can  conduce  to  the  improvement  of  principle  and 
moral  habits  among  the  population.  In  this  way  they  Mill 
not  obtrude  their  necessities  so  readily  upon  you  ;  while  you, 
on  the  other  hand,  when  their  necessities  in  any  particular 
way  force  themselves  upon  your  observation,  may  secretly,  and 
without  the  knowledge  of  others,  relieve  them.  You  will  thus 
find  the  work  of  charity  a  very  quiet  and  manageable  process  ; 
for,  in  truth,  there  won't  be  half  a  dozen  famihes  among  the 
hundred  who  will  stand  in  real  need  of  your  money  ;  while 
perhaps  one  half  of  the  whole  would  have  been  the  sordid  ex- 
pectants of  your  generosity  had  you  injudiciously  announced 
yourself  as  the  general  almoner  of  the  district  that  you  had 
assumed. 

Meanwhile,  ply  all  the  families  with  kind  and  moral  at- 
tentions, stimulate  education,  recommend  cleanliness,  encour- 
age church-going  habits.  Be  not  too  obtrusive  with  your 
money  ;  let  the  people  pay  for  all  themselves  as  much  as  pos- 
sible, and,  at  the  same  time,  show  that  you  grudge  no  ex- 
pense that  would  serve  their  best  interests  by  being  generous 
in  every  case  of  unquestionable  distress  ;  by  setting  up,  if  you 
will,  a  little  library  in  the  district,  to  which,  however,  there 
ought  to  be  small  quarterly  payments  on  the  part  of  the  peo- 
ple themselves.  Set  up  a  local  Savings-Bank,  if  you  think  it 
would  promote  frugality,  and  study  by  all  possible  means  to 
make  the  people  thrive — not  so  much  by  any  imparted  lib- 
erality on  your  part,  as  thrive  by  teaching  them  the  power  of 
their  own  resources  and  their  own  capabilities. 

I  have  not  nearly  exhausted  this  favorite  subject ;  but  I 
send  you  to  the  best  school  when  I  send  you  to  the  school  of 
your  own  experience.  Blunders,  and  failures,  and  discourage- 
ments are  unavoidable  ;  but  you  are  in  the  best  place  for 
profiling  by  the.se  when  you  confine  yourself  to  a  local  terri- 


MAN'S  RESPONSIBILITY  FOR  HIS  BELIEF. 


279 


tory,  where  you  are  ever  growing:  in  acquaintanceship  and 
mutual  regard  with  the  people,  than  when  you  throw  your- 
self at  large  over  a  boundless  field.  Mr.  John  Campbell,  Ter- 
tius,  W.S,,has  done  the  very  same  thing  that  I  now  recom- 
mend to  you,  and  if  you  are  disposed  to  consult  him,  he  is 
qualified  to  supplement  the  deficiencies  of  my  present  com- 
munication.     Yours  truly,  Tho.mas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCXXXYIIL— To  a  Friend. 

St.  Andrews,  13/A  November,  1825. 

My  very  dear  Sir— I  have  no  pcndiar  mode  of  address- 
ing the  Gospel  to  any  one  class  of  human  creatures,  it  is  a 
wide  and  general  proclamation  of  mercy  to  all,  and  wiiatever 
the  age  or  condition  of  the  sinner,  still  he  is  welcome  to 
Christ ;  and  coming  unto  Him  he  shall  in  710  wise  be  cast 
out.  All  are  warranted  to  approach,  even  with  boldness,  to 
that  throne  of  grace,  \vhere  they  shall  receive  both  mercy  to 
pardon  and  grace  to  help  in  every  time  of  need. 

It  is  a  wonderful  plea  that  the  Psalmist  urges  for  pardon  : 
"  Pardon  mine  iniquity, /o/  it  is  great.''  That  greatness  of 
transgression,  which  would  preclude  the  hope  of  forgiveness 
from  an  earthly  superior  whom  we  had  oHended,  is  the  very 
argument  which  we  are  encouraged  to  make  use  of  in  pray- 
ing for  pardon  from  Him  whose  thoughts  are  not  as  onr 
thoughts,  and  whose  ways  are  not  as  our  ways.  May  you, 
my  dear  sir,  and  all  with  whom  you  are  connected,  have  great 
peace  and  joy  in  thus  believing ;  and  sure  I  am,  that  when 
Gospel  peace  enters.  Gospel  holiness  will  follow  in  its  train. 
Have  you  read  Romaine's  "  Treatises  on  Faith  ?" — they  are 
very  precious.      Believe  me,  my  dear  sir,  yours  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCXXXIX. — On  Man's  Responsibility  f-'R  n;> 
Belief. 

St.  A.ndrewk,  15/A  March,  ISJb. 
My  dear  Madam — Lord  Byron's  assertion,  "  that  man  >^ 


280  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


not  responsible  for  his  belief" — an  assertion  repeated  by  Mr. 
Brougham  and  others — seems  to  have  proceeded  from  the  im- 
agination that  belief  is  in  no  cases  voluntary.  Novi^  it  is  very 
true  that  we  are  only  responsible  for  what  is  voluntary,  aud 
it  is  also  true  that  we  can  not  believe  without  evidence.  But 
then  it  is  a  very  possible  thing  that  a  doctrine  may  possess 
the  most  abundant  evidence,  and  yet  not  be  believed,  just  be- 
cause we  choose  to  shut  our  eyes  against  it ;  and  our  unbe- 
lief in  this  case  is  owing  not  to  the  want  of  evidence,  but  to 
the  evidence  7iot  being  attended  to.  Grant  that  belief  is  not 
a  voluntary  act,  it  is  quite  enough  for  the  refutation  of  Mr. 
Brougham's  principle,  if  attention  be  a  voluntaiy  act.  One 
attends  to  a  subject  because  he  so  chooses,  or  he  does  not  at- 
tend because  he  so  chooses.  It  is  the  fact  of  the  attention  be- 
ing given  or  withheld  which  forms  the  thing  that  is  to  be 
morally  reckoned  with.  And  if  the  attention  has  been  with- 
held when  it  ought  to  have  been  given,  for  this  we  are  the 
subjects  of  a  rightful  condemnation. 

It  is  enough  to  make  unbelief  a  thing  of  choice  and  a  thing 
of  aflection,  that  we  have  power  over  the  direction  of  our  no- 
ticing and  investigating  faculties.  You  are  not  to  blame  if 
you  have  not  found  some  valuable  article  that  you  had  lost 
in  an  apartment  of  thickest  darkness  ;  but  you  are  to  blame 
if  you  might  have  opened  the  shutters  or  lighted  a  candle,  so 
as  to  have  admitted  enough  of  light  for  the  discovery.  Nei- 
ther are  you  to  blame  if  you  find  not  the  hidden  treasure  of 
the  Gospel,  provided  that  it  is  placed  beyond  the  reach  of  all 
your  strenuousness,  and  of  every  expedient  that  can  be  used 
for  its  discovery  ;  but  you  are  to  blame  if  you  have  not  gone 
in  quest  of  it,  or  if  you  have  willfully  and  determinedly  shut 
your  eyes  against  it,  or  if  you  have  not  stirred  up  those  pow- 
ers of  your  mind  over  which  the  mind  has  a  voluntary  con- 
trol to  the  inquiry  after  it.  The  Discerner  of  the  heart  will 
see  where  the  lurking  perversity  lies,  and  make  it  manifest  of 
all  who  remain  in  darkness,  that  they  loved  the  darkness — 
of  all  who  have  not  come  to  Christ,  that  they  were  not  will- 
ing to  come. 


THE  ANXIOUS  INQUIREK  DIRECTED.  281 


Christianity  lays  no  unreasonable  service  on  men,  and  fai 

less  that  service  which  were  most  unreasonable  of  all ihe 

homage  of  your  belief,  without  oflering  such  evidence  as,  if 
attended  to,  will  constrain  the  belief.  Our  religion  has  it.s 
proofs,  and  it  also  has  its  probabilities.  Its  proofs  can  only 
be  gotten  at  by  patient  and  laborious  inquiry,  and,  when  ihcv 
are  so  gotten  at,  they  carry  the  belief  along  with  them,  lis 
probabilities  again  may,  some  of  them,  be  seen  at  first  sight, 
and  though  not  enough  to  compel  our  belief,  yet  they  form  a 
sufficient  claim  upon  our  attention.  They  form  that  sort  of 
precognition  which  entitles  Christianity  at  least  to  a  fair  and 
full  trial,  and,  if  not  worthy  all  at  once  of  a  place  in  our  creed, 
it  is  worthy  of  a  further  hearing.  Now  all  I  want  is,  that  that 
hearing  shall  be  given,  that  the  evidences  of  Christianity  shall 
be  studied,  that  the  Bible  shall  be  read  with  patience,  and 
prayer,  and  moral  earnestness,  and  on  the  principle  that  he 
who  seeketh  findeth,  1  have  no  apprehension  of  such  a  course 
not  terminating  in  a  full  and  steadfast  conviction  that  the  Bi- 
ble is  an  authentic  message  from  heaven  to  earth,  and  containg 
in  it  the  record  of  God's  will  for  man's  salvation.  I  am,  my 
dear  madam,  yours  most  truly,  Tho.mas  Cii.vl.vieks. 

No.  CCXL. — Directions  to  an  anxious  Inquirer. 

St.  Andrews,  February,  1826. 

Dear  Madam — I  have  been  asked  by  Miss to  write 

you  on  the  subject  of  certain  difficulties  to  which,  I  helievc, 
almost  every  inquirer  into  the  way  of  salvation  is  subjected. 
It  is  very  possible  that  aught  I  can  say  may  not  produce  an 
immediate  impression  on  your  mind,  for  I  have  often  experi- 
enced the  very  great  tenacity  wherewith  the  obstacles  to  a 
free  and  full  reception  of  the  Gospel  stand  their  ground  in 
the  mind  of  many  a  laboring  seeker  after  truth  ;  but  it  i«  a 
great  thing  that  you  are  in  earnest  if  you  are  not  at  rest ;  and 
in  the  mean  while,  it  is  the  part  of  every  true  frieiui  yon  have 
to  state  to  his  uttermost  ability  such  considerations  as  might. 
with  the  blessing  of  God,  be  helpful  to  your  progress. 


282  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

I  would  first,  then,  say  to  you,  that  you  are  not  to  wait  till 
you  have  mourned  enough  for  sin  ere  you  accept  the  Savior. 
You  complain  that  you  have  not  such  deep  views  of  sin  as  ex- 
perienced Christians  speak  of;  but  how  did  they  acquire  them  ? 
they  are  the  fruits  of  their  experience  in  Christ,  and  not  of 
their  experience  out  of  Christ.  They  had  them  not  before 
their  union  with  the  Savior.  It  was  on  more  slender  concep- 
tions of  the  evil  of  sin  than  they  now  have  that  they  went  to 
Christ,  that  they  closed  with  Him,  and  that  they  received 
from  His  sanctifying  hand  a  more  contrite  spirit  than  before — 
a  more  tender  conscience  than  before.  Do  as  they  did  ;  wait 
not  till  you  have  gotten  their  deep  sensibilities  till  you  go  to 
the  Savior.  Go  to  Him  now  ;  go  to  Him  with  your  present 
insensibility ;  bring  it  before  Him  as  part  of  your  disease, 
and  He,  the  Physician  of  souls,  will  minister  to  this  and  all 
other  diseases.  But,  generally,  you  complain  that  you  are 
ignorant  of  how  to  go — how  to  believe.  Now  this  has  long 
been  a  stumbling-block  to  many  ;  their  thoughts  are  hoiv 
they  are  to  believe,  when  their  thoughts  should  be  ivhat  they 
should  believe.  They  look  inwardly  for  the  work  of  faith, 
when  they  should  look  outwardly  for  the  object  of  faith.  "  For 
every  one  thought,"  says  Richard  Baxter,  "  that  he  casts 
downwardly  upon  himself,  he  should  cast  ten  upwardly  and 
outwardly  upon  Jesus,  and  upon  the  glorious  truths  of  the 
Gospel."  You  say  that  you  have  no  doubts  of  the  freeness  of 
Christ's  salvation,  and  of  His  willingness  to  save  you.  Dwell 
upon  this ;  persist  in  this  ;  stand  in  the  Gospel  attitude  of  look- 
ing upon  Jesus,  and  light  will  at  length  arise  within  you.  In 
the  act  of  looking,  you  may  have  to  wait  a  longer  or  a  shorter 
time  for  your  coming  enlargement ;  but  surely  it  is  worth  the 
waiting  for.  Meanwhile  your  business  is  prayer  ;  a  diligent 
attention  in  the  ordinances  of  rehgion ;  reading  of  God's  word ; 
and,  above  all,  a  keeping  of  the  sayings  of  Christ :  "  He  that 
keepeth  my  sayings,  to  him  will  I  manifest  myself"  Be  as- 
sured you  are  in  good  hands,  even  in  the  hands  of  Him  who 


COUNTESS  OF  D .  283 

will  not  break  the  bruised  reed  nor  quench  the  smoking  flax. 
Believe  me  to  be,  dear  madam,  yours  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCXLI. — To  THE  Countess  of  D .     A  Letter 

OF  Christian  Encouragement.* 

My  dear  Countess — It  is  my  earnest  prayer  to  God  that 
your  superintendence  of  the  Sabbath  School,  established  in 
the  very  interesting  district  in  which  you  reside,  may  be 
abundantly  blessed,  and  that  it  may  be  productive  of"  lasting 
benefit  to  its  sequestered  inhabitants  ;  that  a  religious  popu- 
lation may  arise  around  you  ;  and  that  God,  by  His  Spirit, 
may  carry  home  the  lessons  of  His  word  to  all  whom  they 
are  administered. 

When  one  thinks  of  the  certainty  of  approaching  death, 
and  the  greatness  of  the  coming  eternity,  one  can  not  but  think 
that  the  only  important  history  which  is  going  on  in  the 
world  is  the  unseen  history  of  human  souls  ;  nor  do  I  know 
a  more  interesting  event  than  that  of  a  heart  alienated  from 
God,  and  laboring  under  a  distaste  for  the  method  of  salvation 
by  the  Cross,  when  it  becomes  at  length  reconciled  to  all  the 
peculiarities  of  the  Gospel,  and  is  called  out  of  darkness  into 
God's  marvelous  light.  In  these  institutions  of  Sabbath 
Schools  there  is  always,  indeed,  a  secondary  advantage  to  be 
derived  from  the  acquirement  of  those  habits  of  regularity, 
and  subordination,  and  all  those  minor  accomplishments  which 
conduce  to  the  formation  of  good  subjects  and  good  members 
of  society  ;  and  when  education  is  received  in  subserviency 
to  those  temporal  blessings,  it  is  no  doubt  of  considerable  tem- 
poral advantage,  and  must  be  so  considered  even  by  those  who 
have  no  taste  for  religion,  and  take  no  concern  for  the  high 
matters  and  interests  of  eternity.  But  really,  when  we  look  to 
the  insignificance  of  the  present  scene,  and  road  believingly 
the  Bible,  and  there  learn  the  lesson  of  what  a  wretched  be- 
ing man  is  by  nature  ;  and  when  we  are  made  to  understand 
*  Communicated  by  the  Rev.  T.  Grinfield,  Clifton. 


284  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

that  there  is  only  one  way  of  recovery,  and  to  consider  how- 
great  and  how  radical  a  change  must  take  place  in  our  hearts 
ere  we  can  be  admitted  into  the  kingdom  of  Heaven,  and  that 
we  must  submit  with  the  docility  of  a  little  child  to  these 
sayings,  that  "  through  faith  in  the  blood  of  Christ  we  are 
justified,  and  through  the  washing  of  regeneration  we  are 
sanctified  ;"  when  these  views  open  in  their  significancy  and 
magnitude  upon  the  understanding,  then  a  mightier  object 
will  be  seen  connected  with  a  Sabbath  School.  It  will  be 
valued  chiefly  on  spiritual  and  sacred  grounds,  and  the  main 
anxiety  will  he,  that  they  who  repair  for  scriptural  education 
shall  become  wise  unto  salvation  through  the  faith  that  is  in 
Christ  Jesus.  Now,  to  fulfill  this  higher  object,  it  is  neces- 
sary that  every  higher  expedient  should  be  resorted  to  ;  that 
the  children  should  be  spoken  to  with  affectionate  concern  by 
their  teacher,  that  he  should  add  to  his  admonition  the  force 
of  his  example  ;  that  parents  should  warmly  co-operate  in  the 
great  object,  and  add  all  the  force  of  their  example  and  ad- 
monitions ;  that  unanimity  should  prevail  among  all  con- 
nected with  it;  and  that  the  prayers  of  intercession  should 
frequently  be  liited  up  for  the  prosperity  of  a  cause  so  right- 
eous. It  is  my  earnest  and  real  desire  that  all  the  inhab- 
itants of  your  place  may  experience  in  rich  and  satisfying 
abundance  the  comforts  of  the  Christian  faith,  and  may  grow 
every  day  in  the  graces  of  Christian  obedience.  It  is,  indeed, 
a  wondrous  silence  which  immortal  beings  observe  in  their 
intercourse  with  each  other  on  the  most  urgent  and  greatest 
of  all  topics,  that  of  their  souls  ;  and  I  sometimes  think  how 
they  will  look  to  each  other,  and  upbraid  each  other,  should 
they  meet  on  the  same  common  ground  of  condemnation  on 
the  great  day  of  reckoning.  Believe  me,  I  feel  nothing  but 
the  prompting  of  anxiety  and  tenderness  when  I  entreat  my 
fellow-Christians  to  persevere  in  a  course  of  earnest  and  la- 
borious striving  lor  the  kingdom  of  Heaven.  The  Gospel  in- 
vitation is  free,  but  the  Gospel  requirement  is  strict  :  there  is 
a  change  of  heart  demanded,  as  well  as  a  change  of  external 


LADY  OSBORNE.  2g6 


conduct.  But,  oh  how  dehghtlnl  that  the  prayL-r  of  faith 
rnaketh  all  things  possible,  and  that,  tiioiigh  we  begin  in 
darkness,  and  helplessness,  and  error,  if  we  loUow  the  Sav- 
ior, He  will  show  unto  us  the  light  of  life.     Yours  very  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 


[3d  April,  1852. — Dear  Sir — My  daughter  fells  me  that  you  wish 
to  know  the  date  of  the  letter  I  had  the  pleasure  of  reccivinij  from  the 
venerated  Dr.  Chalmer.s.  1  can  not  t-ay  exat-lly.  \n\\  I  think  it  was  about 
the  year  1834,  or  1835.  or  1836.  It  was  on  the  occasion  of  a  discus- 
sion I  had  with  some  clerjrynien  of  the  Church  of  Geneva  about  the 
Divinity  of  our  blessed  Savior.  I  cited  Dr.  Chalmers  as  the  iiead  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  consequently  Mr.  M.'s  chief,  as  being  po<Md- 
iarly  opposed  to  a  heresy  which,  I  think,  tends  to  subvert  the  founda- 
tions of  Christianity,  and  I  took  the  liberty  of  writinjj  lo  the  proat  and 
good  man  himself,  to  confirm  the  truth  of  the  opinion  which  1  hatl  ven- 
tured to  assert  as  being  his.     I  am.  my  dear  sir.  your  obedient  servant, 

The  Rev.  W.  Hanna.  Cathari.ne  0sB0R^E.] 

No.  CCXLII. 

My  dear  Lady  Osborne — You  must  forgive  my  writing  in 
another  hand,  as  I  am  very  much  over-worked.  And  I  hope 
to  be  further  excused  if  I  do  not  go  into  the  subject  of  your 
letter  at  any  great  length! 

It  appears  to  me  that  there  are  two  grounds  upon  which 
an  error  in  theology  might  be  fatal  :  first,  the  error  might  be 
so  opposed  to  the  clearest  light  of  scriptural  evidence  as  to 
imply  the  utmost  moral  unfairness  in  the  examination  of  holy 
writ,  or  a  hard  rejection  of  the  Divine  testimony.  With  my 
views  of  what  I  hold  to  be  the  obvious  sense  of  the  word  of 
God,  I  could  not  be  an  Arian  without  incurring  this  delin- 
quency. The  second  ground  on  which  an  error  in  theology 
might  be  fatal,  is  the  gr^at  moral  and  practical  imi»ortanre 
of  the  doctrine  which  is  either  vitiated  or  disowned.  I  rould 
not  renounce  my  opinion  of  the  divinity  of  Christ  without  at 
the  same  time  renouncing  what  I  at  present  regard  .i*  \h- 
most  essential  and  characteristic  princi|.le  of  the  (io*|h-1  P'- 
lute  this  article  of  Christianity,  and  you  m  the  fcaaic  pro,H.r- 


286  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

tion  dilute  other  articles  of  the  faith — no  less  vital  and  funda- 
mental than  itself — as  the  value  of  the  Atonement,  the  depth 
of  the  enormity  of  the  guilt  that  calls  for  Divine  expiation, 
the  need  of  a  regenerating  influence  from  on  high,  the  un- 
changeableness  and  authority  of  Heaven's  law,  and  the  dig- 
nity of  its  moral  government.  Those  are  the  great  elements 
of  the  Christian  system  ;  but  by  detaching  the  sentiment  of 
Christ's  divinity,  we  should  take  all  the  force  and  the  spirit 
from  them. 

This  doctrine  strengthens  and  impregnates  the  whole  of 
practical  Christianity  ;  and  whether  it  be  the  trust,  or  the 
gratitude,  or  the  obedience  of  the  Gospel  we  are  urging,  they 
can  only  be  urged  with  effect  along  with  the  belief  that  Je- 
sus Christ,  the  author  and  the  finisher  of  the  faith,  is  abso- 
lutely and  from  eternity  God.  The  first  chapter  of  Revela- 
tion, the  beginning  of  the  Gospel  of  John  ;  Romans,  ix.,  5  ;  1 
John,  v.,  20  ;  Philippians,  ii.,  5,  8  ;  and  the  first  chapter  to 
the  Hebrews,  appear  to  me  the  most  decisive  passages  of  the 
New  Testament  in  favor  of  the  godhead  of  Christ :  and  the 
Old  Testament  appears  to  be  the  more  impressive  and  con- 
vincing the  longer  I  attend  to  it :  for  this  let  me  refer  you 
to  the  sixth  of  Isaiah,  quoted  in  John's  Gospel,  and  apphed  by 
him  to  the  Savior  ;  Isaiah,  viii.,  13,  14,  quoted  in  the  same 
manner  by  Paul  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  ;  Isaiah,  ix.,  5, 
6  ;  Jeremiah,  xxiii.,  5,  6,  where  the  Lord  our  righteousness  is 
Jehovah  ;  Micah,  v.,  2  ;  Zechariah,  xiii.,  7  ;  Malachi,  iii.,  1, 
I  entreat  you  to  excuse  the  brevity  and  the  imperfection  of 
these  hurried  statements.  The  subject  on  which  you  have 
called  me  to  express  myself  is  fitted  for  an  elaborate  disserta- 
tion, and  nothing  like  adequate  justice  can  be  done  to  it  with- 
in the  compass  of  a  letter,  written  in  great  feebleness  and 
amid  manifold  engagements.     I  have  the  honor  to  be,  &o., 

Thomas  Chalmers. 


MISS  ANNE  CHALMERS.  2H7 


No.    CCXLIII. To    HIS    ELDEST   DAUGHTER,   ON   PARTAKlNf; 

FOR    THE    FIRST    TIME    OF   THE   SaCRAMENT    OF   TMi:    Loltl.'s 

Supper. 

Early  Vale,  23d  Octubcr,  1832. 

My  dear  An.ne — Though  I  have  as  yet  said  little  to  you 
about  the  sacrament,  it  is  not  that  I  do  not  feel,  and  leel 
deeply,  the  importance  of  the  step  which  you  are  about  to 
take.  I  have  long  and  earnestly  regretted  that  the  solemn 
urgency  of  my  occupations  should  have  left  me  so  little  time 
and  so  little  strength  for  attending  to  my  family,  and  rnoro 
especially  to  that  highest  interest  of  all,  the  state  of  their  re- 
ligion, impressed  as  I  am  both  by  the  weight  and  importance 
of  the  obligation,  and  also  by  the  solemn  responsibility  which 
the  apostle  lays  upon  ministers  for  the  souls  of  their  people, 
though  surely  not  more  solemn  than  the  responsibility  of  par- 
ents for  their  children,  who  ought,  therefore,  to  watch  for  their 
souls  as  they  icho  must  give  account. 

I  hope  that  I  may  have  much  free  conversation  with  you 
both  respecting  the  sacrament  on  the  fast-day  preceding  it 
on  Thursday.  But  meanwhile  I  should  like  you  to  ponder  the 
following  considerations  bearing  upon  the  subject  : 

1.  You  should  not  look  on  your  past  sinfulness  as  any  bar- 
rier in  the  way  of  approaching  the  Lords  table,  and  you  can 
not  too  soon  or  too  confidently  overpass  this  barrier  l»y  believ- 
ing thoughts  of  that  blood  which  was  shed  for  the  sins  ol  the 
^orld — of  that  propitiation  to  which  one  and  all  arc  invited 
to  look  for  their  acceptance  with  God. 

2.  Neither  should  you  look  on  your  own  impotcncy  for  ur- 
ceptable  obedience  as  any  barrier  ;  and  you  can  not  too  s<H>n 
or  too  confidently  overpass  this  barrier  by  beli»'"ing  thoug)it» 
of  the  all-sufficiency  and  strength  of  that  Sviit  who  is  freely 
given  to  those  who  ask,  and  more  especially  to  those  who.  flee- 
ing for  refuge  to  Jesus  Christ,  the  Ma^ccr  of  the  great  solem- 
nity in  which  you  are  to  join,  lift  up  their  supplicationi  for  jud 
and  ability  to  do  the  will  of  God  in  His  all-pro  vailing  uamo 


288  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

3.  If  you  have  faith  in  the  two  great  truths  which  I  have 
now  specified,  this  will  encourage  you  to  go  forward  to  the 
table  of  the  sacrament  ;  and  yet,  instead  of  putting  the  ques- 
tion to  yourself,  Have  I  faith  in  these  truths  ?  I  would  rath- 
er that  you  dwelt  on  the  contemplation  of  the  truths  them- 
selves. It  is  by  thinking  directly  of  the  truths,  and  not  by 
thinking  reflexly  on  what  the  state  of  your  own  mind  is  in 
regard  to  them,  that  you  come  to  a  right  decision  and  estab- 
lishment of  purpose  on  this  subject. 

4.  But  there  is  one  most  important  subject  of  self-examina- 
tion on  which  I  would  make  the  whole  question  of  this  sac- 
ramental observance  to  turn.  I  would  never  stir  a  doubt  as 
to  the  efficacy  of  Christ's  blood,  or  your  own  welcome  to  the 
participation  of  its  benefits,  and  neither  would  I  stir  a  doubt 
as  to  the  readiness  of  the  Spirit  to  perfect  strength  in  your 
weakness.  But  there  may  be  a  doubt,  and  this  I  would  have 
you  to  clear  up,  on  the  state  of  your  own  will  and  your  own 
purposes.  Are  you  willing  to  be  all  and  to  do  all  that  God 
would  have  you  ?  Is  it  your  purpose,  in  singleness  of  heart, 
to  be  His  only  and  His  altogether  ?  Are  you  honestly  desir- 
ous of  making  yourself  over  wholly  unto  Him,  or,  in  other 
words,  of  submitting  yourself  entirely  to  God  ?  These  I  hold 
to  be  the  proper  questions  for  putting  to  your  conscience  on 
the  present  occasion.  When  thus  employed,  you  are  counting 
the  cost  of  the  Christian  profession  ere  you  enter  upon  it ;  and 
great,  I  promise,  will  be  your  peace  and  joy,  sure  will  be  your 
progressive  holiness,  if  in  good  faith  and  firm  integrity  you 
resolve  henceforward,  and  with  reliance  on  the  Divine  grace, 
to  be  not  almost,  but  altogether  a  Christian, 

I  bid  you  both  recollect  not  merely  the  momentous  personal 
interest  which  each  of  you  has  in  this  great  concern,  but  the 
immense  benefit  of  your  Christian  example  to  the  younger  chil- 
dren. May  this  prove,  then,  a  decisive  step  in  the  history  of 
your  lives — a  sure  step  to  that  heaven  for  which  it  is  our  high- 
est interest  as  well  as  highest  duty  to  prepare.  I  ever  am, 
my  dear  Anne,  yours  most  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 


MASTER  J.  MORTON. 


No.  CCXLIV.— To  Master  J.  Morton.* 

Edinburoh,  2lst  March,  1832. 

My  dear  John — I  would  have  given  this  letter  partly  to 
you  and  partly  to  your  mamma,  making  it  in  that  way  a 
proper  counterpart  reply  to  the  communication  from  Chester- 
hili  of  March  8th  ;  but  I  feel  that  I  can  not  do  justice  to  your 
very  interesting  epistle  without  devoting  the  whole  of  tiiis 
sheet  to  it.  I  allude  more  particularly  to  your  desire  that  I 
should  tell  you  something  of  religion — that  highest  and  most 
important  of  all  subjects. 

The  only  advice  I  shall  give  you  at  present  will  be  a  gen- 
eral, but  I  have  no  doubt  that,  if  followed,  it  will  prove  a  very 
efi'ective  one.  The  Bible  is  able  to  make  you  wise  unto  sal- 
vation. I  do  not  want  to  overtask  you  with  the  reading  of 
it,  but  it  is  right  you  should  read  it  by  little  and  little,  and 
that  frequently.  And  I  would,  therefore,  first  reconnnend 
that  you  should  peruse  so  much  of  it  every  day,  and  bring  to 
the  exercise  all  the  attention  and  all  the  understanding  you 
are  able  to  do. 

But,  again,  the  Bible  itself  tells  us  that  no  man  can  under- 
stand or  feel  it  aright  by  the  mere  natural  and  unaj^sisled 
exercise  of  his  own  faculties,  and  that  it  is  the  oflice  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  to  make  the  word  of  Grod  clear  to  our  judgments, 
and  powerful  in  its  effect  upon  our  hearts  and  lives;  and  it 
furthermore  tells  us  that  God  gives  His  Holy  Spirit  to  them 
who  ask  it.  My  earnest  recommendation  therefore  is,  that 
as  you  read,  you  would  also  pray  that  God  may  open  your 
understanding  to  understand. 

My  third  and  last  recommendation  is  grounded  on  the  say- 
ing, that  the  prayer  of  the  wicked  is  an  abomination  to  God  ; 
and  that  if  we  regard  miquity  in  our  hearts,  God  will  not 
hear  us.  Therefore,  while  observing  my  first  and  second  di- 
rections to  read  the  Bible  and  to  pray,  forget  not  my  third,  to 
be  diligent  in  keeping  God's  commandments,  doing  all  which 
*  Eldest  son  of  his  sister,  Mrs.  Morton. 
V.  N 


290  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

His  word  tells  you  to  be  right,  refraining  from  all  which  His 
word  tells  you  to  be  wrong.  Thus  will  you  grow  in  the 
knowledge  of  the  way  of  salvation.  He  who  seeketh  find- 
eth  ;  and  you,  seeking  to  know  God  and  Jesus  Christ  whom 
He  has  sent,  will  find  the  way  of  righteousness  and  peace, 
and  have  your  feet  firmly  established  on  that  good  path 
which  leads  to  heaven. 

Give  my  kind  regard  to  your  father,  mother,  brothers,  and 
sisters.     I  am,  my  dear  John,  your  affectionate  uncle, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCXLV. — Advice  to  a  Young  Clergyman. 

Edinburgh,  12th  November^  1838. 

My  dear  Sir — I  shall  say  nothing  of  practical  or  devo- 
tional reading  and  study,  indispensable  though  they  be  to  the 
upholding  of  the  best  and  highest  functions  of  our  being,  but 
speak  chiefly  of  intellectual  pursuits  and  professional  business. 

And  first,  it  were  of  immense  value  to  lay  it  down  as  a  rule 
to  which  you  should  doggedly  and  determinedly  adhere,  that 
of  giving  two  or  three  hours  daily  for  at  least  three  days  in 
the  week,  and,  if  the  calls  of  immediate  business  allowed,  for 
more  days  than  this,  to  some  high  subject  of  professional  lit- 
erature. I  pressed  this  on  Mr.  Douglas,  constitutionally  one 
of  the  most  indolent  men  I  know,  and  the  result  was  his 
work  on  the  "Advancement  of  Society,"  &c.  Your  "Ex- 
egesis on  Miracles,"  and  your  "Sermon  on  the  Sacrament," 
convince  me  that  if  you  would  but  select  your  topics  and  do 
likewise,  you  could,  by  dint  of  perseverance,  furnish  products 
of  sounder  and  still  higher  quality  than  those  to  which  I  refer. 

And  the  same  habit  of  so  much  time  for  this  elaborate 
mental  exertion  might  not  only  issue  in  superior  authorship, 
but  superior  sermons,  of  which  it  were  well  that  you  had  a 
certain  and  increasing  number  when  called  to  preach  on  great 
public  occasions,  or  to  first-rate  auditories. 

My  reason  for  being  satisfied  with  three  days  in  the  week 
for  the  more  transcendental  efibrt  which  I  now  recommend 


ADVICE  TO  A  YOUNG  CLERGYMAN.  291 


man- 
or 


is,  that  I  suppose  your  ordinary  pulpit  preparations  are 
aged  in  a  different  way,  and  might  require  perhaps  two 
three  days  each  week,  not  to  be  encroached  upon  by  any  call 
on  your  mind,  during  these  days,  for  a  more  fatiguing  exercise. 

So  much  for  the  creative  efforts  of  thought  and  composi- 
tion. Additional  to  these,  I  would  have  one  or  two  hours  a 
day  for  the  perusal  of  the  more  arduous  kind  of  books,  >?iicli 
as  might  subserve  the  preparations  which  I  have  now  recom- 
mended, and  store  the  mind  with  all  that  is  most  profound 
and  philosophical  in  the  themes  which  you  propose  to  elu- 
cidate. 

If  these  directions  were  fully  and  regularly  acted  up  to,  I 
would  willingly  allow  the  remainder  of  the  time  for  light 
reading,  society,  and  parochial  duties.  And  in  reference  to 
the  latter,  I  would,  as  I  could  find  the  instruments,  devolve 
as  much  as  I  profitably  could  upon  others,  whether  in  the 
capacity  of  elders  or  Sabbath-teachers,  without,  at  the  same 
time,  precipitating  these  arrangements  beyond  the  real  worth 
of  the  agents  who  shall  or  may  cast  up  one  by  one,  and  to 
those  you  might  rightly  commit  the  management  in  question. 

But  what  is  all  in  all,  is  a  systematic  distribution  of  time. 
It  is  not  by  irregular  efforts,  however  gigantic,  that  any  great 
practical  achievement  is  overtaken.  It  is  by  the  constant 
recurrence  and  repetition  of  small  efforts  directed  to  a  given 
object,  and  resolutely  sustained  and  persevered  in.  In  this 
way  you  will  work  yourself  into  a  deep  and  cleaving  inlerc.'>t 
in  topics  which  at  first  may  have  been  repulsive.  Edwards' 
Works  supply  a  rich  assortment  of  such  topics  ;  marks  of  con- 
version, marks  of  a  work  of  the  Spirit,  original  sin,  necep.^i- 
ty,  sacrament,  &c.  ;  see  also  Butler's  "Sermons,"  Davison's 
"Prophecy,"  and  many  other  authors  whom  I  could  mention  ; 
but  I  would  rather  the  concentration  of  your  strength  on  a 
few  themes,  than  that  you  should  be  a  Universahst. 

I  think  that  there  might  be  a  most  beneficial  cxpenditnre 
of  all  your  time,  and  that  the  interest  of  ever}'  hour  of  il  might 
he  completely  filled  up  betwe.^n  f»  ■•  two  objects  of.  first,  a 


292  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

great  mental  product,  and,  secondly,  a  great  practical  effort 
in  your  parish.  I  do  not  want  to  shut  out  hours  of  ease  and 
relaxation;  but  the  fatigue  of  the  other  hours  will  make  these 
last  all  the  more  enjoyable.  It  is  a  most  valuable  experience 
of  Brainerd,  that  the  regular  distribution  of  time  is  essential 
to  one's  religious  prosperity;  and  of  Elliot,  that  through  faith 
in  Christ  Jesus,  it  is  in  the  power  of  prayer  and  of  pains  to  do 
every  thing.     Yours  most  truly,  Thomas  Chalmeks. 


[In  August,  1831,  the  late  Mrs.  Grant,  of  Laggan,  received  a  letter 
from  a  lady  then  in  Italy,  describing  the  character  of  a  young  Italian 
artist,  in  whom  she  was  much  interested,  of  remarkable  genius,  but  un- 
fortunately imbued  with  skeptical  opinions  on  religion,  which  she  had 
in  vain  endeavored  to  remove.  She  begged  that  Mrs.  Grant  would 
submit  a  statement  of  the  case  to  Dr.  Chalmers,  and  solicit  the  favor  of 
his  benevolent  aid  in  suggesting  how  the  erroneous  views  of  the  young 
man  might  be  best  combated  ;  a  request  which  Mrs,  Grant,  with  con- 
siderable hesitation,  complied  with,  by  sending  her  correspondent's 
letter  to  Dr.  Chalmers.  The  following  answer  was  returned  by  Dr. 
Chalmers  to  Mrs.  Grant.] 

No.  CCXLVI. — Letter  to  Mrs.  Grant,  of  Laggan. 
Edinburgh,  2d  September^  1831. 

My  dear  Madam — I  am  sure  you  will  excuse  me  from  en- 
tering in  my  own  person  on  an  argument  with  one  who,  from 
the  account  you  have  sent  me  of  him,  has  yet  to  acquire  the 
very  first  elements  of  a  subject  on  which  he  speculates  so 
adventurously,  and  yet  with  so  little  information. 

I  must,  therefore,  confine  myself  to  the  recommendation  of 
certain  books,  which,  if  not  read  and  studied  by  him,  really 
makes  the  task  which  your  friend  has  put  into  my  hand  in 
every  way  as  hopeless  as  that  of  teaching  optics  to  the  blind, 
or  teaching  philosophy  to  children. 

Taylor's  "Process  of  Historical  Proof;"  Taylor's  "Trans- 
mission of  Ancient  Books  to  Modern  Times;"  Paley's  "Evi- 
dences of  Christianity ;"  Lardner's  "Credibility;"  "Lardner 
on  Jewish  and  Heathen  Testimonies  to  the  Truth  of  the  G  os- 


T.  ERSKINE,  ESQ. 


293 


pel ;"  Paley's  "  Horae  PaulinsB ;"  Butler's  "  Analogy  ;"  Leslie's 
"  Short  and  Easy  Method  with  the  Deists ;"  Littleton's  "  Con- 
version of  St.  Paul." 

I  hope  that  the  perusal  of  these  may  have  a  favorable  ef- 
fect, though  I  must  confess  that  the  union  of  so  much  confi- 
dence  with  so  much  ignorance  tempts  me  to  despair. 

That  there  should  be  no  time  to  read,  and  withal  ^uch 
trust  in  the  conclusions  of  his  own  confessedly  uninformed 
mind,  forms  a  composition  which  it  is  truly  most  difficult  to 
deal  with,  and  makes  it  an  impracticable  task  to  put  down 
the  determined  but  withal  superficial  infidelity  of  our  ape. 
Ever  believe  me,  my  dear  madam,  yours  most  truly  and  with 
great  esteem,  Thomaj^  Chalmers. 

P.S. — Your  friend  should  continue,  however,  to  treat  the 
person  with  great  tenderness,  and  to  make  him  the  subject  of 
her  prayers.  T.  C. 

No.  CCXLVII.— To  T.  Erskine,  Esq.,  of  Linlathen. 

Anstrutjier,  10th  Jugust,  1818 
My  dear  Sir — I  was  obliged  to  leave  Glasgow  on  the  day 
of  that  night  in  which  you  were  to  have  visited  me,  and  left 
a  line  explanatory  of  the  cause,  which  was  a  sudden  rail  to 
wait  on  my  father  during  an  illness  that  has  since  turned  out 
to  be  his  last.  He  died  here  on  the  2Cth  of  la>?t  month;  and 
I  propose  moving  homeward  to-morrow. 

Be  assured  that  there  is  nothing  that  could  be  more  agree- 
able to  me  than  to  enter  with  you  into  a  regular,  though  it 
should  not  be  a  frequent  correspondence.  I  derived  too  much 
advantage  from  the  personal  interview  I  had  with  you,  not 
to  desire  a  continuance  ol-intercourse  in  the  only  other  way  it 
can  be  maintained  when  at  a  distance  from  each  other. 

I  shall  forbear  at  present  giving  a  full  and  dfliherafe  opin- 
ion on  your  "  Translations  of  St.  James."  Th«'  ilorfrine  you 
educe  from  them  I  hold  to  be  undeniable  and  highly  im|)ort- 
ant ;   and  I  feel  benefit  from  the  view  you  give  of  holinesi, 


294  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

in  that  you  rescue  it  from  the  humble  office  of  evidencing  our 
judicial  state,  and  would  raise  it  to  an  importance  that  were 
absolute  and  terminating.  I  see  that  many  of  our  divines  lay 
something  like  an  exclusive  stress  on  the  object  of  making  our 
title  clear  by  our  works  ;  whereas  the  character  of  being 
zealous  of  good  works  is  a  character  the  formation  of  which 
is  stated  as  an  object  in  itself  of  Christ's  coming  to  this  world, 
and  is  essential  to  our  preparation  for  the  next. 

It  just  occurs  to  me  that  in  James,  ii.,  18,  the  contrast  be- 
tween the  two  terms  is  of  a  wider  description  than  between 
faith  in  dormancy  and  faith  in  action — it  is  between  faith 
viewed  as  one  distinct  object,  and  works  viewed  as  another. 
But  I  trust  I  shall  look  over  the  whole  epistle  with  greater 
care,  and  be  able  to  express  myself  more  fully  and  decisively 
respecting  it. 

My  father,  I  have  reason  to  rejoice,  was  a  thorough  Chris- 
tian. His  favorite  treatise  was  the  "  Theron  and  Aspasio" 
of  Hervey,  where  the  forensic  benefit  we  have  derived  from 
Christ  is  the  main  topic  of  his  argument.  But  does  not  the 
principle  of  self-preservation  direct  our  primary  attention  to 
this  matter,  and  should  we  actually  conceive  a  trust  in  the 
Savior  for  righteousness,  who  can  say  that  a  transition  so 
much  fitted  to  change  and  to  brighten  the  prospects  of  man 
shall  not  also  bring  along  with  it  new  affections,  new  desires, 
new  principle,  and  all  the  elements,  in  short,  of  regeneration. 

The  Spirit  cometh  by  the  hearing  of  faith.  They  who 
trust  in  Christ  are  sealed  with  the  Holy  Spirit  of  promise. 
Believe  me,  my  dear  sir,  yours  with  great  esteem  and  regard, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCXLVIIL— To  T.  Erskine,  Esq. 

KiRKALDY,  15th  October^  1818. 

My  dear  Sir — I  am  here  ^n  an  excursion  from  Glasgow, 

for  the  purpose  of  taking  back  Mrs.  Chalmers,  who  has  been 

spending  the  whole  summer  in  Fife.      You  may  not  yet  have 

heard  of  the  matter  which  chiefly  engrosses  the  interest  and 


T.  ERSKINE,  ESQ. 


29ft 


the  feelings  of  the  people  of  G  lasgow  at  this  moment.  Poor 
Dr.  Balfour  was  seized  with  apoplexy  on  Monday  upon  George 
Street,  and  taken  into  the  nearest  house,  where  he  slill  lies, 
and  is  not  expected  to  live  another  day. 

I  received  your  manuscript  a  few  weeks  ago,  and  have  read 
it,  I  assure  you,  with  great  satisfaction.  To  pronounce  upon 
it  critically  would  require  a  more  elaborate  examination  tlum 
I  can  possibly  afford  ;  but  I  can  at  least  say  that  I  never  read 
James  with  a  more  entire  impression  of  the  unity  of  what  at 
one  time  appeared  disjointed,  of  the  significancy  of  what  at 
one  time  appeared  dark,  of  the  pertinency  of  what  at  one  lime 
appeared  irrelevant,  than  I  have  done  through  the  medium 
of  your  translation.  There  is  a  light,  and  a  power,  and  a 
moral  impression  about  your  performance  that  there  is  not 
about  the  version  of  the  apostle  in  our  authorized  Scriptures; 
and  if  you  can  substantiate  on  good  philosophical  grounds  all 
the  reformations  that  you  propose,  you  will  indeed  oiler  a  very 
valuable,  as  well,  I  am  persuaded,  as  a  very  acceptable  con- 
tribution to  biblical  literature.  If  you  have  confidence  in  the 
soundness  of  your  various  renderings,  I  regard  the  work  as  al- 
together worthy  of  publication. 

You  have  certainly  succeeded  in  sustaining  a  more  contin- 
uous process  of  argument  and  reflection  by  your  version  than 
one  can  discover  to  be  in  the  common  one. 

You  will  confer  a  great  favor  upon  me  by  an  occasional  let- 
ter. What  I  feel  the  need  of  is,  that  power  of  faith  which 
must  ever  accompany  the  reality  of  faith,  and  which,  if  want- 
ing, may  well  lead  us  to  suspect  the  reality.  What  I  have 
loner  experienced  of  my  own  mind  is,  that  it  is  rpiite  possible 
to  describe  the  whole  range  of  Christian  doctrine  in  the  terms 
of  a  consistent  and  satisfying  argumentation — to  make  use  of 
all  the  terms  in  theology,  and  bring  them  into  pood  logical 
arranjrement,  just  as  you  make  use  of  the  symbols  of  an  al- 
gebraical process,  and  conduct  that  process  in  a  way  that  if 
unexceptionable,  while  the  quantities  represented  by  the  sym- 
bols are  not  at  all  present  to  the  mind  throughout  the  whole 


296  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

process  of  the  investigation.  I  long  for  more  of  the  life  and 
freshness  of  an  actual  contact  with  these  things — for  the  king- 
dom of  God  as  abundantly  in  power  as  it  is  in  word — in  short, 
for  such  manifestations  of  the  first  and  elementary  ideas  as,  I 
am  persuaded,  no  play  or  performance  of  natural  talent  can 
ever  conduct  me  to.  It  is  here  that  I  feel  my  helplessness — 
it  is  here,  I  believe,  where  the  accomplished  philosopher  is  on 
a  footing  with  the  most  untaught  and  illiterate  of  the  peas- 
antry— it  is  here,  I  am  persuaded,  where  light  must  be  cre- 
ated and  sent  into  our  hearts  by  the  immediate  hand  of  God, 
instead  of  being  excogitated  by  the  laboring  of  the  human 
faculties.  I  am  awake  to  a  sense  of  necessity  and  depend- 
ence ;  and  I  await  the  performance  of  the  promise,  "  Awake, 

0  sinner,  and  Christ  shall  give  thee  hght."  It  is  given  to 
prayer,  while  it  is  withheld  from  presumption — it  is  given  oft- 
en to  the  intercessions  of  others,  while  it  is  withheld  from  all 
that  a  man  can  ask  or  do  for  himself;  and  believing  as  I  do, 
that  when  a  man  goes  in  quest  of  Christian  truth  in  proud 
dependence  upon  himself,  he  gives  an  imgodliness  to  the  very 
outset  of  his  inquiries  ;  that  God  must  be  acknowledged  in 
this  way,  as  well  as  in  every  other,  ere  He  direct  our  path. 

1  have  too  high  an  opinion  of  prayer  as  an  engine  of  mighty 
operation,  not  to  feel  a  desire  that  I  may  have  a  part  and  an 
interest  in  your  prayers,  that  God  may  visit  me  with  such  com- 
munications of  light  and  of  love,  as  to  give  me  a  distaste  for 
the  world,  and  a  spiritual  relish  of  Him  as  the  strength  of  my 
heart  and  my  satisfying  portion. 

I  am  in  the  press  just  now  with  a  volume  of  Congregation- 
al sermons.  I  feel  the  poorness  and  the  barrenness  of  them 
all ;  and  yet  somehow  or  other  I  have  prevailed  upon  myself 
thus  to  come  forward  with  them.  I  see  a  mighty  and  un- 
trodden interval  between  the  state  of  my  own  mind  and  the 
spirituahty  of  other  Christians  ;  but  I  have  the  hope  of  being 
the  more  confirmed  by  all  this  in  the  attitude  of  the  apostle 
who  had  no  confidence  in  himself,  but,  rejoicing  in  the  Lord 
Jesus,  was  enabled  to  serve  God  in  the  spirit. 


T.  ERSKINE,  ESQ.  297 


I  shall  return  your  manuscript  to  Mr.  Stirling.  I  hope  I 
have  not  done  wrong  in  showing  it  to  a  neighbor  who  takes 
an  interest  in  these  things,  but  who,  I  am  persuaded,  will  read 
it  with  a  simple  view  to  his  own  edification.  It  is  my  prayer 
that  you  may  be  useful,  and  eminently  so,  in  the  Church  of 
Christ.  What  we  want  is  laborers,  with  or  without  ordina- 
tion :  either  may  wield  the  instrument  of  God's  word,  and 
in  the  hands  of  neither  will  it  return  void.  Have  you  seen 
Edwards'  "  Treatise  on  Prayer  ?"  A  season  of  revival  in  the 
Church  is  generally  preceded  by  a  season  of  prayer.  I  stand 
sadly  in  need  of  your  devotional  frame  all  the  day  long — of  the 
religion  of  feeling — of  a  real  sensibility  toward  Him  who  is 
both  a  just  God  and  a  Savior — who  has  so  wondrously  blend- 
ed in  one  demonstration  the  infinity  of  His  love  with  the  in- 
finity of  His  holiness.  Believe  me,  my  dear  sir,  yours  most 
truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCXLIX.— To  T.  Erskine,  Esq. 

Edinburgh,  29th  December,  1843. 

My  dear  Sir — I  read  both  your  letter  and  that  of  Madame 
de  Stael  with  much  interest  and  afTection.  These  are  trying 
and  sifting  times,  but  I  have  the  confident  hope  that  good  will 
come  out  of  them.  In  particular,  I  am  most  happy  to  observe 
that  our  Free  Church  ministers  are  manifesting  a  vigor  and  a 
spirituality  which  I  never  before  witnessed,  even  in  them,  and 
which,  under  God,  I  can  only  ascribe  to  their  being  actuated 
by  the  feeling  and  the  conscious  freedom  of  now  emancipated 
men.  Meanwhile,  things  are  o"'dently  converging  to  a  crisis, 
which  I  trust  will  usher  in  a  brighter  clay  both  of  Christian 
love  and  Christian  liberty. 

I  most  cordially  agree  -with  you  in  thinking  that  our  jour- 
ney through  Normandy  should  never  be  forgotten.  In  good 
earnest,  I  assure  you  that  I  often  look  back  upon  it  as  the  most 
brilliant  and  interesting  passage  of  my  by-gone  life,  though 
the  death  of  the  poor  duchess  casts  a  deep  shade  over  it. 

T  should  rejoice  if  we  met  eye  to  eye.  I  feel  convinced  of 
N2 


298  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

a  radical  and  essential  unity  between  us,  however  diverse  and 
distorting  the  media  might  be  between  our  respective  visions 
and  certain  of  those  questions  on  which  we  may  chance  to 
differ.  My  fatigues  compel  me  now  to  write  by  my  daugh- 
ter Grace,  who  with  Mrs.  Chalmers  desires  kindest  regards. , 
I  ever  am,  my  dear  sir,  yours  most  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCL.— To  E.EV.  John  Foster. 

Glasgow,  8th  November,  1821. 

My  dear  Sir — I  lately  saw  Mr.  Jeffrey,  the  editor  of  the 
"  Edinburgh  Review,"  and  spoke  to  him  at  some  length  about 
the  conduct  and  character  of  that  widely-spread  journal.  I 
told  him  how  much  it  would  add  to  its  usefulness,  did  he  not 
prohibit  all  his  general  contributors  from  ever  touching  on  the 
subject  of  Christianity,  and,  making  room  for  a  theological 
department,  admit  an  occasional  article  on  that  subject  from 
one  who  was  soundly  acquainted  with  it,  and  able  to  render 
it  impressively  to  his  readers.  My  time  is  so  much  occupied 
that  I  have  abandoned  that  sort  of  literature  entirely.  But 
I  took  the  liberty  of  suggesting  you  as  one  whose  occasional 
contributions  would  be  of  eminent  service  to  the  work  ;  and  to 
yourself  I  add,  that,  through  the  influence  and  diffusion  of 
that  work,  such  a  direction  may  be  given  to  your  labors  as  to 
be  of  the  first  consequence  to  the  best  of  causes.  Mr.  Jeffrey 
requested  me  to  write  you,  and  express  the  pleasure  it  would 
give  him  could  you  be  prevailed  upon  to  send  him  an  arti- 
cle ;  and  I  may  here  suggest  to  you,  that  from  the  very  gen- 
eral character  of  that  work  hitherto,  it  were  greatly  better, 
instead  of  advocating  one  species  of  Christian  partisanship 
against  another,  to  advocate  revelation  in  general  against 
infidelity,  or  to  expatiate  in  those  more  catholic  tracts  of 
thought  and  sentiment,  where  one  might  keep  from  that  sort 
of  controversy  which  is  so  often  confounded  by  a  superficial 
public  with  the  narrowness  of  sectarianism. 

Do  let  me  know  what  you  think  of  this.     I  shall  only  say, 


REV.  JOHN  FOSTER. 


999 


that  I.  would  prefer  to  see  your  lucubrations  in  the  "  Edin- 
burgh" rather  than  in  the  "  Eclectic  Review,"  because  of  the 
greater  publicity  and  iuflueuce  that  they  would  thus  attain  ; 
while  I  still  persist  in  another  opinion  that  1  have  long  ex- 
pressed on  the  subject  of  your  literary  labors,  and  that  is,  that 
I  regret  you  do  not  give  more  of  your  strength  to  the  rearing 
of  such  works  as  may  come  out  ostcnsihly  and  independently 
from  your  pen — being  thoroughly  persuaded  that  you  can  jiuh- 
lish  nothing  in  this  way  which  will  not  prove  a  permanent 
accession  to  the  Christian  literature  of  our  country. 

I  can  truly  say  for  myself  that  I  read  no  compositions 
with  greater  excitement  than  your  own.  1  perused  both  Jour 
"  Missionary  Sermon"  and  your  book  on  "  Popular  IgnoraHce" 
with  unmeasured  delight  ;  and  one  passage  more  especially, 
of  the  latter,  has  kept  a  very  tenacious  hold  of  me,  that  in 
which  you  adventured,  and  with  marvelous  success,  to  por- 
tray the  popular  imagination  of  God — a  description  that  came 
home  so  much  to  my  own  consciousness  as  to  assure  me  how 
idolatrous  and  mean  were  all  my  conceptions  of  the  Deity. 

There  is  one  thing  more  that  I  beg  to  propose  to  you  ere 
I  am  done.  I  am  aware  of  your  taste  for  landscape,  and  of 
the  full  gratification  it  would  find  in  the  scenery  of  our  High- 
lands. I  have  myself  gone  a  very  little  way  into  that  snb- 
lime  and  interesting  region,  and  I  would  most  willingly  givo 
up  three  weeks  to  the  enterprise  of  penetrating  right  through 
to  the  most  northerly  point  of  Scotland,  were  it  in  the  capac- 
ity of  a  guide  and  companion  to  you.  I  beg  that  you  would 
think  of  coming  to  Glasgow  next  summer,  and  taking  up  your 
abode  with  me  till  we  set  out  on  this  expedition. 

Meanwhile,  you  will  oblige  me  greatly  by  as  speedy  an  an- 
swer as  you  can  afford  to  this  communication.  Mrs  Chal- 
mers joins  in  kindest  regards  to  you.  I  am,  my  dear  sir.  yourt 
very  affectionately,  Tho.mas  Chalmers 


300  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


No.  CCLL— To  Rev.  Dr.  Ryland. 

GLASGOW,  18<A  Feh-uary,  1818. 

My  dear  Sir — I  return  you  many  thanks  for  the  kind  pres- 
ent of  "Fuller's  Life,"  and  also  for  your  very  excellent  pam- 
phlet on  "  Antinomianism," — both  of  which  I  received  from 
the  hands  of  your  son. 

I  can  assure  you  that  I  read  the  latter  with  much  interest 
and  pleasure.  It  revived  all  my  recollections  of  the  excellent 
Jonathan  Edwards,  to  whose  principles  on  the  subject  of  Free- 
will I  have  long  been  a  decided  convert.  You  have  given  a 
very  clear  and  judicious  exposition,  indeed,  of  the  perfect  con- 
sistency which  obtains  between  the  absolute  sovereignty  of 
God  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  fitness  of  bringing  forward  the 
urgency  of  Gospel  calls  and  Gospel  invitations  on  the  other. 
I  trust  that  your  performance  will  do  much  good.  It  re- 
minds me  of  your  conversation  when  I  had  the  pleasure  of 
meeting  you  at  Bristol,  and  which  I  shall  not  soon  forget.  I 
feel  greatly  indebted  to  you  for  the  question  you  proposed  to 
put  to  him  who  said,  "I  have  come  unto  Christ" — "  What 
have  you  gotten  from  Him?'' 

I  rejoiced  in  recognizing  it  as  a  very  prevalent  feature  in 
your  connection,  your  horror  at  Antinomianism  ;  and  it  is  my 
prayer  that,  both  by  doctrine  and  example,  you  may  succeed 
more  and  more  in  vindicating  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  as 
being,  indeed,  altogether  according  to  godliness. 

I  have  read  nothing  with  greater  excitement  for  a  very 
long  time  than  Hall's  "  Sermon"  on  the  late  lamented  death. 
It  is,  indeed,  a  very  rich  and  wonderful  composition,  and  I 
think  more  impregnated  with  theology  than  any  of  his  former 
works.  It  whets  the  appetite  more  than  ever  for  a  volume 
of  congregational  sermons  from  him.  Do  wrestle  this  point 
with  him  till  you  have  prevailed.  I  read  lately  his  and  your 
excellent  prefaces  to  his  father's  work. 

Mr.  Foster  is  now  in  your  neighborhood.  I  know  nothing 
that  would  more  interest  me  than  a  communication  from  him. 


MR.  J.  E.  RYLAND. 


801 


I  carried  away  with  me  a  very  ^reat  afiection  Cor  him.  nxu\  \ 
retain  it.  There  appeared  a  vile  unchristian  altack  on  hitn 
lately  in  one  of  our  Magazines,  and  I  heard  nothinjr  aroin.d 
me  but  indignation  against  it.  He  has  many  admiro'rs  in  this 
part  of  the  country.  Your  son  I  see  occasionally.  1  entr.-at 
a  part  in  your  prayers.  Oh  that  we  felt  more  and  moro  a 
child-like  dependence  on  the  teachings  of  the  Holy  Sj>irit  ! 
May  God  prosper  your  abundant  labors,  and  cause  you  to  re- 
joice in  the  fruit  of  them,  i  am,  my  dear  sir,  yours  most 
^^^^V'  Thomas  Chal.mers. 

No.  CCLII.—To  Mr.  J.  E.  Ryland.* 

EDiNBiRCiM,  2(i  March.  1831 
My  dear  Sir — I  received  your  melancholy  intimation  of 
Mr.  Hall's  death  with  the  greatest  emotion,  and  consider  it 
as  a  severe  blow  to  the  Church  universal — as  an  event  to  bo 
deplored  not  by  his  own  flock  and  family  alone,  but  by  all 
the  friends  of  our  common  Christianity. 

J  felt  a  particular  interest  in  your  narrative  of  hi.s  death, 
and  was  struck  with  the  coincidence  between  his  dying  testi- 
monies and  those  of  Fuller,  Dwight,  and  others  of  our  best 
established  Christians.  The  "humble  hope"  of  his  last  mo- 
ments deserves  to  be  enshrined  among  the  most  precious  of 
those  memorabilia  which  he  has  given  to  the  world. 

Will  you  tell  Mrs.  Hall  (to  whom  I  expect  to  write  shortly) 
that  I  do  feel  a  melancholy  satisfaction  in  her  having  select- 
ed me,  as  one  of  those  friends  of  her  venerable  and  illustrious 
husband,  who  should  be  especially  apprized  of  the  sad  event 
that  afflicts  and  solemnizes  us  all.  Believe  me,  my  dear  tir, 
yours  most  truly,  Thomas  Chalmer.s. 

No.  CCLIIL— To  Mr.  J.  E.  Ryland. 

EniNBUROH,  Mth  SovtmlHr.  I«43. 

My  dear  Sir — I  should  have  acknowledged  lonjr  ag<>  your 
letter  of  the  17th  of  October,  announcing  the  death  ol  Juhii 
*  Aathor  of  the  '•  Life  of  Foster,"  ke. 


302  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

Foster — a  man  of  gigantic  intellect,  and  whose  writing^  have 
earned  for  him  an  imperishable  name,  but  who  I  trust  is  now 
enjoying  a  better  and  a  higher  immortality.  I  ever  had  the. 
greatest  veneration  both  for  him  and  Mr.  Hall,  who,  along 
with  Dr.  Ryland,  Andrew  Fuller,  Drs.  Carey,  Marshraan,  and 
Ward,  made  up  altogether  a  very  bright  constellation,  and 
which  serves  to  signalize  the  Baptists  of  England  more  than 
any  other  denomination  which  I  at  present  recollect. 

I  forget  whether  Mr.  Sheppard,  of  Frome,  is  a  Baptist.  I 
am  much  interested  by  this  renewal  of  our  correspondence. 
It  is  now  twenty-one  years  since  we  met  at  Bristol,  and  I  am 
now  made  to  understand  by  your  letter  that  you  are  settled 
at  Northampton. 

Mrs.  Chalmers  unites  with  me  in  kindest  remembrances, 
and  I  entreat  you  to  believe  me,  my  dear  sir,  yours  very  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCLIV.— To  Mrs.  Paul. 

St.  Andrews,  20th  October,  1827. 
My  dear  Mrs.  Paul  —  I  have  read  the  MS.  on  Proph- 
ecy which  you  kindly  put  into  my  hand,  and  I  can  assure 
you  with  a  strong  conviction  of  its  soundness.  I  perfectly 
agree  with  the  writer  in  thinking  that  there  has  been  a  very 
culpable  negligence  of  this  important  department  of  that 
Scripture  whereof  it  has  been  said  that  all  is  profitable.  I 
myself  am  in  for  a  full  share  of  the  blame,  and  I  do  hope  that 
I  shall  not  merely  feel  the  obligation  of  giving  more  earnest 
heed  unto  prophecy,  but  that  I  shall  henceforth  act  upon  it. 
The  perusal  of  your  paper  has  freshened  the  impulse  which  I 
received  some  months  ago  from  reading  the  work  by  Irving, 
and  I  certainly  have  of  late  attained  a  growing  sense  of  the 
duty  which  attaches  to  this  branch  of  sacred  study.  I  am 
now  reading  in  ordinary  the  book  of  Isaiah,  and  derive  occa- 
sional aid  from  M'Culloch's  "  Lectures  ;"  he  is  not  a  mille- 
narian,  which  I  am  now  very  much  inclined  to  be  ;  and  the 
other  day  read  with  great  pleasure  the  26th  chapter,  the  lat- 


REV.  C.  BRIDGES.  3ga 


ter  verses  of  which  appear  to  describe  the  impotency  of  hu- 
man and  ordinary  eflbrts  to  Christianize  the  world  (verse  1^). 
and  then  (verse  19)  the  commencement  of  the  great  era 
which  is  ushered  in  by  the  first  resurrection.  Beheve  inc, 
my  dear  madam,  yours  very  aflectionately, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCLV.— To  Rev.  C.  Bridges. 

Edi.nburgh,  2d  January,  1834. 

My  dear  Sir — I  gladly  avail  myself  of  the  opporluiuty 
M^hich  the  Christmas  holidays  atiord  me  of  ackuowledf,Miig 
your  most  esteemed  letter  of  October  last,  as,  when  enpapod 
in  teaching  my  classes,  I  find  both  my  strength  and  limu  very 
much  engrossed,  having  two  distinct  courses  of  lectures,  and 
upward  of  two  hundred  students  to  deal  with. 

I  feel  the  greatest  value  for  your  kind  and  instructive  com- 
munication, and  more  particularly  for  those  parts  of  it  which 
I  can  turn  to  a  useful  purpose,  whether  in  the  way  of  sugges- 
tion or  of  warning,  as  to  the  special  business  of  my  own  pro- 
fession. I  deeply  feel  my  need  of  efibrt  and  prayer,  that  rny 
whole  course  may  be  more  and  more  spiritualized,  assured  as 
I  am  of  the  possibility  of  delivering  all  the  lessons  of  theology 
in  the  strictest  form  of  sound  words,  and  with  the  fullest  ad- 
herence to  the  letter  of  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  while  the 
real  unction  and  vitality  of  the  Gospel  spirit  may  be  altogeth- 
er wanting.  I  shall  feel  the  utmost  value,  in  connection  with 
this  all-important  object,  both  for  your  advices  and  your  pray- 
ers. It  is  only  by  a  manifestation  from  Him  who  is  the  Sun 
of  Righteousness  that  the  demonstrations  of  a  professor  can 
be  brightened  from  the  moonlight  to  the  smishine.  of  which 
you  have  so  impressively  told  me,  and  have  not  only  the  great- 
er light,  but  also  the  heat  of  the  higher  luminary  imparled  to 

I  have  a  distinct  lectureship  this  winter  on  the  mcthtKis 
and  the  machinery  of  Christian  education,  which  suhjerl  Icadu 
me  not  only  to  the  vindication  of  religious  e«tabli«hrncnU.  but 


304  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

also  to  what  may  be  termed  the  spiritual  tactics  of  a  parish  ; 
and  I  can  assure  you  that  there  is  not  one  sentiment  which 
you  have  either  written  or  spoken  in  my  hearing  which  I 
more  thoroughly  sympathize  with  than  the  mighty  importance 
of  maintaining  unbroken  the  conjunction  between  the  minis- 
terial and  the  pastoral.  I  think  myself  prepared  to  show  that 
it  is  the  dissolution  of  this  sacred  union  that,  instrumentally 
speaking,  has  so  weakened  the  influence  of  the  Christian  min- 
istry all  over  the  land,  and  more  especially  in  our  large  towns. 
When  on  this  subject,  I  shall  have  occasion  to  make  extracts 
from  your  admirable  work  on  the  various  official  and  profes- 
sional duties  of  clergymen. 

I  often  think  of  your  parish,  which,  as  a  hallowed  abode 
of  peace  and  piety,  supplies  me  with  far  more  interesting  rec- 
ollections than  any  thing  I  have  seen  in  England.  May  the 
Giver  of  all  grace  continue  to  bless,  and  that  abundantly, 
your  ministrations  among  the  dear  cottage  families  around 
you,  and  pour  down  such  a  blessing  that  there  may  be  no 
room  to  receive  it. 

I  beg  that  you  will  offer  my  best  regards  to  Mrs.  Bridges, 
and  to  Miss  Wakefield,  if  still  with  you.  In  their  work  and 
labor  of  love  among  the  young,  and  particularly  among  your 
own  dear  children,  may  the  pleasure  of  the  Lord  prosper  in 
their  hands.  I  ever  am,  my  dear  sir,  yours  with  greatest  es- 
teem and  attachment,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCLVI.— To  Rev.  C.  Bridges. 

Burntisland,  12th  Jtpril,  1836. 

My  dear  Sir — I  take  great  blame  to  myself  in  having  de- 
ferred so  long  to  write  you.  It  is  true  that  I  am  much  en- 
grossed, and  not  so  able  for  fatigue  as  I  have  been  ;  but  noth- 
ing can  justify  the  remissness  of  my  correspondence  with  one 
whose  communications,  and,  above  all,  whose  prayers  I  so 
highly  value. 

I  have  seen  Mr.  Drummond  since  I  last  received  your  let- 
ter.    I    highly  approve    of  your  proposal  to  publish  Fox's 


REV.  HORACE  BONAR. 


ao6 


"  Martyrology,"  though,  I  fear,  I  can  do  little  to  promote  iu 
success  in  Edinburgh.  I  am  completely  overdone,  and  am 
obliged  to  take  flight  into  the  retirement  of  the  country. 

I  hope  you  see  Mr.  Bickersteth  occasionally—for  I  should 
like  that,  the  first  time  you  met  him,  you  would  deliver  this 
message  from  me.  When  I  wrote  him  last,  I  had  only  enter- 
ed on  the  perusal  of  his  work  on  "  Prophecy,"  and  not  pro- 
ceeded far  in  it,  and  certainly,  from  the  beginning  of  his  vol- 
ume, I  understood  that  he  was  doubtful  on  the  subject  of 
Christ's  personal  reign,  in  which  sentiment  I  staled  that  I 
agreed  with  him.  I  now  find,  however,  that  he  is  decidedly 
for  that  opinion,  and  I  am  very  far  Irom  being  decidedly 
against  it.  But  I  have  not  yet  got  beyond  Mede  upon  this 
question,  who  certainly  left  it  indeterminate,  though  1  am  now 
far  more  confident  than  I  wont  to  be  that  there  is  to  be  a  com- 
ing of  Christ  which  precedes  the  millennium — a  millennium 
to  be  ushered  into  the  world  by  a  series  of  dreadful  visitations, 
for  which,  I  fear,  we  are  fast  ripening — in  the  train  of  which 
all  our  present  structures,  whether  civil  or  ecclesiastical,  will 
give  way,  that  room  might  be  made  for  a  universal  empire 
of  truth  and  righteousness. 

I  beg  my  most  grateful  regards  to  Mrs.  Bridges  ;  and  if 
Miss  Wakefield  be  still  with  you,  I  would  ofier  her  too  my 
best  acknowledgments.  Ever  believe  me,  my  dear  sir,  yours 
most  cordially,  Tho.ma.s  Chalmeii?. 

No.  CCLVII. — Letter  to  the  Rev.  Horace  Bonar. 

EDiNBfRQH,  9th  January,  1847. 
My  dear  ^ir — Would  you  allow  me  to  suggest  "  Alexan- 
der on  Isaiah"  as  an  admirable  book  for  your  review.  As 
fas  as  I  have  looked  into  it,  it  seems  a  work  of  extraordinary 
merit.  The  author  is  -an  American  professor  at  Pnnroion 
I  feel  quite  assured  that  your  brother,  were  he  to  addrcw*  him- 
self to  the  work,  would  go  through  it  con  amore.  I  can  not 
close  this  communication  without  expressing  my  entire  »alii- 
faction  with  the  doctrines  and  the  progress  of  what  I  call  your 


306  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

South  Country  School,  of  whom  I  hold  yourself,  Mr.  Purves, 
of  Jedburgh,  and  Mr.  Campbell,  of  Melrose,  to  be  the  trio  of 
its  representatives.  It  is  not  of  your  prophetical,  but  of  your 
theological  views,  that  I  now  speak,  though  to  the  former, 
also,  I  approximate  much  nearer  than  I  did  in  my  younger 
days.*     But,  speaking  of  the  latter,  nothing  can  be  more 

*  Ps.  1.,  1-6. — "  This  is  a  remarkable  psalm,  and  the  subject  of  it 
seems  to  lie  within  the  domain  of  unfulfilled  prophecy.  There  has  been 
no  appearance  yet  from  Mount  Zion  at  all  corresponding  with  that 
made  from  Mount  Sinai.  And  I  am  far  more  inclined  to  the  literal  in- 
terpretation of  this  psalm  than  to  that  which  would  restrict  it  to  the 
mere  preaching  of  the  Gospel  in  the  days  of  the  apostles.  It  looks  far 
more  like  the  descent  of  the  Son  of  Man  on  the  Mount  of  Olives,  with 
all  the  accompaniments  of  a  Jewish  conversion,  and  a  first  resurrection, 
and  a  destruction  of  the  assembled  hosts  of  anti-Christ.^^ — [Posth.  Works, 
vol.  iii.,  p.  51.) 

Ps.  Ixviii.,  18-35. — "Mixed  up  with  all  the  literalities  of  the  typ- 
ical, the  great  antitype  shines  forth  in  this  high,  sacred  composition. 
We  have  positive  evidence  for  Christ  in  this  psalm  in  Eph.,  iv.,  8,  aft- 
er which  we  need  be  at  no  loss  for  objects  in  the  future  triumph  and 
victory  of  His  cause  adequate  to  the  loftiest  expressions  which  we  here 
meet  with.  .  .  .  There  is  every  likelihood  of  allusions  here  to  the 
great  contest  of  the  book  of  Revelation.  .  .  .  But  God  has  in  reserve 
for  His  people  still  another  restoration.  He  will  bring  them  again,  as 
of  old,  from  Bashan  and  the  Red  Sea  to  their  own  land.  His  people 
will  '■see  Him  whom  they  have  pierced,''  perhaps  when  His  feet  stand  on 
the  Mount  of  Olives,  and  Jerusalem  will  again  become  the  great  cen- 
tral sanctuary  by  becoming  the  metropolis  of  the  Christian  world." — 
{Ibid.,  p.  69.) 

Isa.,  Ixv.,  17-25. — "It  is  delightful  to  mark  how  an  expression  so 
general  as  that  of  the  new  heavens  and  the  new  earth,  and  therefore 
of  the  great  and  general  renovation,  should  be  blended  with  the  expres- 
sion of  God's  special  kindness  to  his  ancient  people,  proving  that  the 
Jews  are  to  bear  a  prominent  part  in  the  establishment  of  the  next 
economy.  We  are  greatly  wanting  in  the  details  of  the  miellnnium, 
and  perhaps  from  the  want  of  scriptural  data  for  the  determination  of 
them.  We  can  not  think  of  those  who  bear  part  in  the  first  resurrec- 
tion that  they  will  again  die  -,  but  will  none  of  the  righteous  die  ?  And 
if  not,  what  is  meant  by  the  child  dying  a  hundred  years  old  ?  And 
in  contrast  with  him,  the  sinner,  who,  though  he  should  live  a  hundred 
years,  will  be  accursed.  We  doubt  not  that  there  will  be  two  contem- 
poraneons  societies  at  that  period — the  righteous  and  the  wicked,  who 
are  without,  and  will  not  be  permitted  to  hurt  or  to  destroy  in  all  God's 


DR.  JAMES  BROWN. 


precious  than  the  mariner  in  which  y..a  expound  the  thingi 
that  ^xt  freely  given  to  us  of  God.  1  feel  assured  that  no 
other  doctrine  will  regenerate  the  world.  Give  my  kindest 
regards  to  Mrs.  Bonar,  and  ever  believe  me,  my  dear  sir, 
yours  very  truly,  Tho.mas  Chalmers. 


LETTERS  TO  DR.  JAMES  BROWN. 
No.  CCLVIII. 

Edinburgh,  30/A  Aut^usi.  1833. 

My  dear  Sir — It  is  owing  entirely  to  my  having  been  w 
long  from  home  that  I  have  not  till  now  requested  your  ac- 
ceptance of  my  last  work  ;  and  I  feel  very  much  Haltered  by 
your  favorable  opinion  of  it.  .  This  is  but  the  second  day  of 
my  return  from  England. 

I  agree  in  all  you  say  on  the  subject  of  Mr.  Duncan's  work, 
with  the  exception  of  your  single  remark  upon  its  dedication, 
than  which  he  could  have  done  nothing  more  rightly  and 
appropriately.  It  is  the  common  ieeling  of  us  both,  that 
whatever  of  the  academic  spirit,  or  of  the  purely  academic 
enthusiasm  either  of  us  may  possess,  we  are  far  more  indebt- 
ed for  it  to  you  than  to  all  other  teachers  put  together.  Of 
all  my  living  instructors,  I  have  ever  reckoned  first  yourself, 
then  Professor  Robison,  of  Edinburgh,  and,  lastly.  Dr.  Hunter, 
of  St.  Andrews,  as  far  the  most  influential  in  the  lomiation 
both  of  my  taste  and  intellectual  habits.  1  have  read  the 
Preface,  and  I  think  the  book  promises  vastly  well.  My  two 
eldest  daughters,  who  have  mastered  the  first  four  books  of 
Euclid,  are  to  attempt  the  perusal  of  it,  and  I  mean  to  ac- 
company them.  Such  is  my  confidence  in  Mr.  Duncan's  jk)W- 
ers  of  lucid  conveyance,  while  he  at  the  same  time  sustain* 

holy  mountain.  Again,  will  there  be  a  change  in  the  laws  oi  animd 
nature — that  the  carnivorous  shall  cease  being  so.  or  arc  tbew:  ibm^s 
only  figurative?  The  earth,  with  its  curse  fuUy  remove.!,  will  br 
greatly  more  productive,  and  so  as  that  men  shall  not  labor  in  vain,  m 
now.''— {Ibid.,  p.  339.) 


308  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

the  purity  and  dignity  of  the  science,  that  I  have  no  doubt  of 
their  fully  understanding  him. 

I  shall  do  all  I  can  for  the  volume,  but  that  is  little.  A 
review  from  your  pen  in  the  pages  of  the  •'  Edinburgh"  would 
make  its  fortune.  With  best  regards  to  Mrs.  and  Miss  Brown, 
1  remain,  my  dear  sir,  yours  most  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCLIX. 

Edinburgh,  16th  February,  1834. 

My  dear  Sir — I  agree  with  you  in  thinking  that  the  ap- 
pointment of  Ivory  would  shed  very  great  eclat  on  our  Uni- 
versity. Whether  he  would  make  a  good  working  professor, 
I  know  not ;  but  I  shall  take  every  fair  opportunity  of  stating 
what  I  do  know  of  him  as  an  illustrious  savant. 

On  the  subject  of  your  second  note,  which  I  presume  to  be 
yours,  though  subscribed  only  with  your  initials,  I  agree  with 
you  in  deprecating  the  universality  of  popular  preaching 
throughout  the  Church,  if  by  this  is  meant  flimsy,  or  vulgar, 
or  untasteful,  or  irrational  preaching.  But  there  is  one  ingre- 
dient of  popularity  which  I  should  like  to  see  in  all  sermons 
grounded  as  it  is  on  the  adaptation  of  the  peculiar  doctrines 
of  Christianity  to  the  felt  wants  and  exigencies  of  our  moral 
nature,  and  to  the  workings  and  aspirations  of  which  nature 
the  peasant  is  as  feelingly  alive  as  the  philosopher.  For  ex- 
ample, his  conscience  tells  him,  often  more  powerfully  and  just 
as  intelligently,  that  he  is  under  the  condemnation  of  a  vio- 
lated law  ;  and  so  it  falls  with  all  the  greater  acceptance 
upon  his  ear,  that  unto  him  a  Savior  is  born.  The  doctrine 
of  the  atonement,  in  fact,  urged  affectionately  on  the  accept- 
ance of  the  people,  and  held  forth  as  the  great  stepping-stone, 
by  which  one  and  all  are  welcome  to  enter  into  reconciliation 
and  a  nezc  life  (for  a  fully  declared  Gospel  is  the  very  reverse 
of  Antinomiani.sm),  I  hold  to  form  the  main  staple  of  all  good 
and  efficient  pulpit- work.  I  need  not  say  how  much  my  re- 
cent illness  has  endeared  to  me  the  propitiated  forgiveness  of 


DR.  JAMES  BROWN. 


the  New  Testament— a  lorgiveuess  to  which  we  can  not  rt- 
sort  too  early,  and  on  which  we  can  not,  il"  honestly  de»iroui 
of  conforming  ourselves  to  the.  whole  word  and  will  of  God, 
cast  too  contidently  the  whole  bnrden  of  our  reliance. 

The  interest  you  have  taken  in  me  inclines  me  to  mention, 
that  on  Saturday  week  I  received  the  notification  from  Tans 
of  my  appointment  as  a  Corresponding  Member  of  the  Royal 
Institute  of  P\ance.  The  place  which  they  have  asMgned  to 
me  IS  in  the  Academy  or  Department  of  the  Moral  and  Po- 
litical Sciences.     I  am,  my  dear  sir,  yours  most  gratefully, 

^  Thoma.s  Chalmkrs. 

No.  CCLX. 

Burntisland,  3()th  Jugust,  1836. 
My  dear  Sir — It  is  with  no  common  interest  and  satisfac- 
tion that  I  received, your  kind  note  ;  and  am  much  gratified 
with  your  remembrance  of  me,  who  have  fallen  so  much  short 
of  my  own  desires,  and  what,  had  it  been  possible,  1  should 
have  regarded  as  one  of  my  most  incumbent  duties,  that  of 
testifying,  both  by  my  frequent  calls  and  frequent  inquiries, 
how  deep  the  respect,  and  how  cordial  is  the  attachment  1 
have  ever  felt  for  you.  I  need  not  say  how  much  I  am  grat- 
ified by  the  approval  you  have  given  to  my  last  published  ser- 
mon. I  have  long  thought  that  great  injustice  has  been  done 
to  the  theology  olthe  New  Testament,  by  tiie  inadequate  rojv 
resentatious  of  orthodoxy  in  regard  to  its  practical  character; 
and  that  if  these  were  more  insisted  on,  it  might  serve  to  rec- 
ommend its  precious  overtures  of  welcome  and  good-will ;  its 
proclamation  of  forgiveness ;  its  full  and  free  amnesty,  even 
to  the  chief  of  sinners  ;  its  grand  disclosure  of  pardon  to  all 
who  will,  through  the  medium  of  an  atonement,  by  winch  the 
law  is  magnified,  while  the  transgressors  of  the  law  arc  tak- 
en into  full  reconciliation  ;  and  so  a  fairer  exhibition  of  tho 
righteousness  of  the  Christian  system  might  gain  the  acqui- 
escence of  many  in  these  doctrines  of  salvation  and  grace,  b)* 
which  so  many  are  nauseated,  because  they  do  not  perceive 


310  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

the  goodness  and  the  virtue  with  which  the  acceptance  of 
these  doctrines  is  inseparably  associated. 

I  can  not  express  the  earnestness  I  feel  that  you,  my  dear 
sir,  may  enjoy  the  comforts  here,  and  be  admitted  to  all  the 
triumphs  hereafter,  of  a  firmer  faith  in  the  Gospel  of  our  Lord 
and  Savior  Jesus  Christ, 

With  kindest  regards  to  Mrs.  and  Miss  Brown,  ever  believe 
me,  my  dear  sir,  yours  most  cordially  and  with  great  esteem, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCLXI.— To  Mrs.  Brown. 

Burntisland,  13th  November,  1836. 
My  dear  Mrs.  Brown — I  can  not  adequately  express  the 
deep  emotion  which  I  felt  on  receiving  the  melancholy  intel- 
ligence of  Dr.  Brown's  death — one  of  my  most  respected  and 
earliest  friends,  and  of  whom  I  have  often  said,  that,  of  all  the 
professors  and  instructors  with  whom  I  ever  had  to  do,  he  is 
the  one  who  most  powerfully  impressed  me  ;  and  to  the  as- 
cendency of  whose  mind  over  me,  along  with  that  of  Profes- 
sor Robison's,  of  Edinburgh,  I  owe  more  in  the  formation  of 
my  tastes  and  habits,  and  in  the  guidance  and  government  of 
my  literary  life,  than  to  that  of  all  the  other  academic  men 
whose  classes  I  ever  attended.  But,  in  addition  to  his  pub- 
lic lessons,  I  had  the  privilege  of  being  admitted  to  a  long  in- 
timacy with  your  departed  husband,  and  of  enjoying  the  ben- 
efits as  well  as  the  charms  of  his  most  rich  and  eloquent  con- 
versation, besides  receiving  from  him  many  written  commu- 
nications, which  I  have  kept  by  themselves,  and  prize  as  a 
great  literary  treasure.  Of  these,  the  most  interesting  is  the 
last,  received  from  him  not  many  weeks  ago,  and  on  the  most 
momentous  of  all  subjects.  You  may  be  well  assured  that, 
when  such  a  master-mind  as  his  thought  lit  to  disclose  itself 
on  the  high  themes  of  religion,  I  could  not  but  feel  alive  to 
the  manifestation  of  a  sensibility  on  this  greatest  of  all  con- 
cerns, the  knowledge  of  which  I  now  feel  to  be  inexpressibly 
precious. 


REV.  MR.  HARVEY.  ;,,, 


It  is  my  earnest  prayer  that  you  and  your  dauphter  may 
be  supported  on  this  trying  occasion  by  Him  who  is  the  Giver 
of  all  comfort,  and  who  alone  can  sanctify  and  bless  His  own 
visitation.  May  we  all  be  led  to  the  wise  and  ripht  consid- 
eration of  our  latter  end  ;  and  laying  hold  of  the  ofll-red  atone- 
ment of  the  Gospel,  may  we  henceforth  sit  at  the  feet  of  Him, 
who  alone  hath  the  gift,  and  who  alone  hath  the  M'ords  of 
life  everlasting. 

I  exceedingly  regret  that  I  was  altogether  disabled  by  cir- 
cumstances from  attending  the  funeral.  Either  to-morrow  or 
Tuesday  I  hope  to  call  upon  you  at  Beaumont  Place. 

With  my  best  regards  to  Miss  Brown,  I  entreat  you  to  be- 
lieve me,  my  dear  madam,  yours  with  deepest  sympathy  and 
respect,  Thomas  Chal.mers. 


[Rectory,  Hornsey,  16th  August,  1852. — Mv  de.\r  Sir — A  dis- 
cussion  took  place  at  the  close  of  1837,  at  the  monthly  meetings  of  the 
Society  for  the  Promoting  Christian  Knowledge,  in  the  course  of  which 
the  proper  designation  of  the  Epi.scopal  Church  in  Scotland  came  to  bo 
considered.  Some  members,  who  sympathized  with  the  very  Hiph 
Church  party,  desired  to  describe  the  Scottish  bishops  jis  l)i>hops  of 
the  Church  in  Scotland,  or  of  Scotland,  thereby  iijnorinp  the  Estab- 
lished Church.  Eventually  it  was  determined,  by  the  recommendation 
of  the  Bishop  of  London,  to  make  use  of  the  designation  which  the 
bishops  claimed  to  themselves — "Bishops  of  the  Scotti»h  Episcopal 
Church,"  by  which  no  offense  could  be  given  to  any  one.  Thinking 
that  some  incorrect  rumor  might  reach  Dr.  Chalmers  of  the  discussion, 
I  wrote  to  acquaint  him  with  the  true  state  of  the  case.  The  accom- 
panying letter  is  his  answer.  With  kind  compliments,  1  am.  yours 
truly  obliged,  Richard  Harvey. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Hanna.] 

No.  CCLXII. — Letter  to  Rev.  Mr.  Harvey. 

Edinburgh,  6/A  Ftbruary,  1838. 
My  dear  Sir — I  owe  you  many  apologies  for  my  delay  in 
replying  to  your  letter  ;  but  I  am  really  borne  down  by  ar- 
rears of  correspondence,  and  business  of  various  .^orls 

I  regret  that  any  thing  should  have  occurrad  which  might 


312  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

mar  the  cordiality  that  ought  to  subsist  between  the  two  Es- 
tablishments. There  are  several  here  who  will  feel  the  dis- 
ownal  of  us  far  more  deeply  than  I  can  at  all  sympathize 
with.  I  feel  confident  that  the  exclusive  principle  which  was 
manifested  at  your  meeting  must  wear  out  of  credit  with  the 
ministers  of  the  Church  of  England  ;  and  that  a  notion  so 
utterly  senseless  and  fantastic  will  at  length  be  entertained 
by  so  very  few,  as  that  we  shall  at  length  afford  to  look  on 
them  with  the  most  benignant  complacency. 

The  epithet  "  Episcopalian"  would  have  saved  the  credit 
of  the  meeting,  and,  I  should  imagine,  have  satisfied  all  par- 
ties.    "  The  Episcopal  Church  either  of  or  in  Scotland." 

When  you  write  Mr.  Le  Bas,  offer  him  my  kindest  regards. 
I  rejoice  to  hear  of  his  preferment ;  and  I  hope  that  I  shall 
meet  him  in  my  visit  to  London,  which,  if  God  will,  I  propose 
shall  be  toward  the  end  of  April.  I  have  not  forgotten  my 
last  delightful  visit  to  Hornsey  ;  and  I  look  forward  with  the 
greatest  pleasure  to  the  renewal  of  it.  With  most  respect- 
ful acknowledgments  to  Mrs.  Harvey,  I  ever  am,  my  dear  sir, 
yours  most  gratefully,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCLXIIL— To  Mr.  John  Sheppard. 

Edinburgh,  2oth  April,  1833. 

My  dear  Sir — I  should  have  acknowledged  long  ago  the 
kind  gift  of  your  acceptable  volume,*^  which  I  have  been  pe- 
rusing with  very  great  interest  and  pleasure  ;  and  which,  hio-h- 
ly  as  I  esteemed  your  "  Thoughts  on  Devotion,"  I  regard  as 
a  far  richer  production,  abounding  as  it  does  in  the  views  of 
a  deeper  experience,  and  having  in  it  much  greater  fullness, 
as  a  repository  of  pearls  and  precious  things.  I  have  taken 
the  liberty  of  referring  to  it  in  my  "  Bridgewater  Essay,"  now 
in  the  press;  and  I  know  that  a  review  of  it  has  appeared  in 
our  "  Scottish  Presbyterian,"  favorable,  though  not  equal  to 
my  own  impression  of  its  merits. 

My  habit  in  reading  a  book  is  to  mark  with  approbation, 
*  "  Essays  on  Christian  Encouragement,"  &c. 


MR.  JOHN  SHEPPARD.  313 


or  the  contrary,  as  1  move  along.  I  find  that  I  have  given 
my  most  intense  approval  to  the  rollowing  passages  :  page 
18  ;  bottom,  of  page  20  ;  top  of  page  157.  These  I  single  out 
as  being  double  marks.  The  single  marks  are  mniunerahle, 
and  yet  represent  but  feebly  the  delight  I  have  felt  in  the 
perusal  of  your  volume. 

I  have  not,  though  quite  honest  in  the  marks  I  allix  to  all 
my  readings,  jotted  down  a  single  passage  as  questionable  or 
that  I  differ  from.  Ever  believe  me,  my  dear  sir,  yours  most 
respectfully  and  with  greatest  regard,     Tho.s.  Chalmeu.^. 

No.  CCLXIV.— To  Mr.  John  Sheppard. 

Edinburgh,  \6th  Novembfr^  1833. 

My  very  dear  Sir — Your  very  kind  letter  of  the  30th  of 
July  I  should  have  acknowledged  long  ago  ;  but  1  have  been 
a  great  wanderer  this  season,  and  for  a  good  many  months 
have  been  marvelously  little  at  home. 

I  need  not  say  how  much  I  have  been  gratified  by  your 
remarks  of  approbation  and  kindness  on  my  last  work — an 
abundant  compensation,  I  assure  you,  for  the  hostility  which 
I  have  been  doomed  to  experience  so  abundantly  at  the  hands 
of  the  English  reviewers,  who,  with  the  exception,  as  far  as  I 
have  yet  seen  them,  of  the  "  British  Critic,"  seem  bent  on 
running  me  down.  One  ought  not  to  be  sensitive  about  a 
matter°of  this  sort,  and  it  would  argue  a  particularly  morbid 
constitution  not  to  be  abundantly  comforted  under  all  their 
severities  by  the  approval  of  the  wise  and  the  good. 

I  have  received  your  Sermon  on  the  death  of  Mr.  Hughes. 
whom  I  had  the  pleasure  of  knowing.  I  am  much  delighted 
with  it ;  and  as  1  have  only  room  for  one  remark,  I  was  great- 
ly struck  with  your  felicitous  illustration  in  page  25,  on  the 
hostility  by  which  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  wa« 
assailed,  and  where  you  have  so  justly  and  forcibly  character- 
ized, in  particular,  the  attacks  that  were  brought  to  b««r 
acrainst  it  from  this  pugnacious  quarter  of  the  island, 
''l  can  not  express  the  tenderness  I  feci  in  being  made  to 
V.  0 


314  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

understand  from  your  letter  that  you  have  been  laboring 
under  depression ;  I  wish  I  could  prevail  upon  you,  my  dear 
sir,  to  look  more  objectively,  and  less  subjectively,  than  you 
appear  to  do — more  to  the  outer  truths,  if  I  may  so  express 
it,  of  Christianity,  and  less  to  the  inner  lineaments  which 
these  may  have  impressed  on  the  tablet  of  your  own  charac- 
ter. I  should  not  feel  myself  justified  in  offering  this  advice, 
did  I  not  feel  assured  that,  after  all,  it  is  by  the  direct  exer- 
cise of  faith  that  all  these  virtues  of  the  new  obedience  are 
etijrendered  within  us  which  furnish  the  materials  of  a  reflex 
self-examination.  I  have  derived  great  comfort  from  a  little 
tract,  entitled  "  Brief  Thoughts  on  the  Gospel,  and  the  Hin- 
derances  to  Believe  it." 

With  the  greatest  esteem  and  regard,  I  ever  am,  my  dear 
sir,  yours  most  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCLXV. — Letter  to  Dr.  Symington. 

Edinburgh,  9th  October,  1838. 

My  dear  Sir — I  should  have  replied  sooner  to  your  kind 
letter  of  some  weeks  past,  but  I  was  unwilling  to  sit  down 
till  I  had  begun  the  perusal  of  your  work  on  the  Atonement. 

I  am  now  reading  it  with  great  interest,  and,  I  trust,  with 
a  practical  and  good  impression.  It  is,  indeed,  that  doctrine 
of  great  price,  the  very  name  of  which  is  as  ointment  poured 
forth. 

I  hope  I  shall  be  able  to  write  you  at  greater  length  on 
the  subject  after  I  have  completed  the  perusal  of  your  sub- 
stantial and  masterly  volume.  Indeed,  I  believe  I  shall  have 
to  write  you  at  any  rate  early  in  November.  Meanwhile,  I 
am  marking  all  the  passages  as  I  go  along,  and  will  furnish 
you  with  a  list  of  them  either  in  writing  or  when  we  meet. 

My  preference  in  the  treatment  of  a  subject  is  for  an  ex- 
hibition of  the  direct  proofs  first  ;  after  which,  I  do  not  object 
that  other  arguments,  after  being  brought  forward  as  prelim- 
inary considerations,  should  be  exhibited  in  the  form  of  collat- 
eral or  subsidiary  arguments.     For  example,  I  agree  with 


REV.  THOMAS  BARTLETT.  mfl 


Paley  in  the  first  sentence  of  his  "Evidences,"  when-  h.- 
pleads  for  an  immediate  entry  on  the  strongest  credentiaU  of 
revelation,  and  that  anterior  to  any  consideration  of  its  neces- 
sity. But  this  question  of  arrangement  is  too  unwieldy  f<»r 
discussion  in  a  single  letter;  and  I  think  the  chief  objection 
to  the  usual  arrangement  is  done  away  when  the  prefatoiy 
views  which  you  exhibit  are  held  forth  more  in  the  light  of 
presumptions  than  as  the  initial  steps  ol"  a  logical  process, 
which  last  method  has  the  effect  of  placing  the  less  obvi(  uh 
probabilities  at  the  basis  of  the  argument,  and  so  of  making 
the  whole  weak  throughout,  because  weak  radically. 

On  the  whole,  I  feel  quite  assured,  and  the  assurance  will 
gather  in  strength  as  I  advance  in  my  reading  of  your  work, 
that  it  forms  a  most  sound  and  valuable  contribution  to  our 
professional  literature.  With  best  regards  to  Mrs.  Symington 
and  your  family,  I  am,  my  dear  sir,  yours  most  respectfully 
and  truly,  Thomas  Chal.mers. 

No.  CCLXVI. — Letter  to  Rev.  Tho.mas  Bartlett. 

Edinbt'rgh,  25lh  January,  1839. 

My  dear  Sir — Your  "Life  of  Butler"  ciime  to  me  about  a 
week  ago,  and  I  suspended  all  other  reading  till  I  should 
achieve  the  perusal  of  it.  My  engagements  leave  me  very 
little  time  for  this  indulgence ;  hut  I  have  now  finished  the 
Narrative,  and  can  not  forbear  writing  you  now,  though  I 
have  not  yet  entered  on  the  Abridgment  which  you  make  of 
the  "  Analogy."  I  mean,  however,  to  look  over  this  also  ; 
and  should  any  thing  occur  to  me,  in  resi>ect  of  its  execution, 
I  will  send  you  a  second  letter. 

But  recurring  to  the  Memoir,  I  have  perused  it  with  great 
eagerness,  and  a  very  intense  feeling  of  satisfaction  and  in- 
terest. My  veneration  for  Butler  gives  a  magnitude  o%'cu  to 
the  minutest  traits  which  are  recorded  of  him.  msomnch  that 
I  feel  as  if  I  had  made  a  real  acquisition  by  knowing  of  his 
fast  riding  on  a  black  horse,  and  his  habit  of  stopping  and 
turning  to  his  companion  with  whom  he  was  engaged  in  talk 


316  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

Allow  me  to  say  that  I  look  on  what  is  peculiarly  your 
own  part  as  done  with  great  taste  and  great  talent ;  and  it 
is  not  with  the  spirit  of  flattery,  but  of  justice,  that  I  tell  you, 
laboring  as  you  did  under  the  disadvantage  of  scanty  mate- 
rials, that  the  work  is  greatly  indebted  to  your  own  reflections, 
that  you  have  imparted  to  it  a  strong  Hterary  interest,  and 
have  managed  to  infuse  into  it  as  great  a  biographical  charm 
as  the  fewness  of  the  known  incidents  would  allow. 

Page  222. — I  shall  here  transcribe  an  extract  from  my 
class-book  on  Butler's  "  Analogy."  Dr.  Hyland,  in  his  edition 
of  "  Andrew  Fuller's  Works,"  says  in  a  note,  "  I  heard  Mr. 
Venn,  of  Yelling,  give  an  account,  however,  to  Mr.  Beveridge, 
who  related  his  conversation  with  one  of  his  chaplains,  to 
whom  the  bishop  remarked,  '  that  it  was  an  awful  thing  to 
appear  before  the  Moral  Governor  of  the  world  ;'  when  the 
chaplain,  whose  views  were  more  clearly  evangelical,  referred 
him  to  the  obedience  of  Christ,  by  which  many  are  made 
righteous  ;  and  the  dying  bishop  exclaimed,  '  0,  this  is  com- 
fortable,' and  so  expired."  What  I  now  give  brings  But- 
ler's expression  still  nearer  to  that  at  page  226. 

Even  if  you  had  done  no  more  than  collect  the  scattered 
remains  of  such  references  as  were  made  to  Butler  by  various 
authors  during  his  life  and  after  his  death,  that  of  itself 
would  have  justified  the  volume  ;  for  though  these  references 
are  taken  from  printed  books  or  pamphlets,  they,  even  at 
this  time  of  day,  are  as  little  known  as  if  they  had  been  ex- 
tracted by  you  from  manuscripts  and  letters. 

I  shall  only  add,  that  nothing  can  be  more  agreeable  than 
your  kind  notice  of  myself.  Pages  335,  336,  brought  back 
to  me  a  very  vivid  and  most  interesting  recollection.*  With 
my  best  regards  to  Mrs.  Bartlett,  believe  me  ever,  my  dear 
sir,  yours  most  respectfully  and  cordially, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

*  See  Memoirs,  vol.  iii.,  p.  388,  389. 


REV.  SAMUEL  MILLER.  gp 


lav. 


[Princeton,  10th  March,  1848— Reverknd  anu  leak  Siu— li«..- 
ing  learned  iVom  the  public  journals  that  you  were  enjrugod  m  pn-pur- 
ing  a  Memoir  of  the  late  great  and  prood  Dr.  Chalmers,  ojid  that  you 
desired  to  have  letters  which  he  had  written  transinilte.l  to  you,  it  oc- 
curred to  me  to  doubt  whether  I  had  not  a  duty  to  discharge  in  refer- 
ence  to  this  request. 

Though  I  enjoyed  the  precious  privilege  of  corrcspcmding  with  liim, 
yet  but  few  letters  passed  between  us.  We  were  both  Uh>  bu.sy,  and 
especially  he,  in  the  great  concerns  in  which  he  was  calhnl  to  act,  lo 
devote  much  time  to  letter-writing.  I  think  the  letters  which  I  re- 
ceived from  him  were  not  more  than  three.  Of  one  of  them,  and  the 
longest,  I  inclose  herewith  a  copy.  The  others  have.  I  scarcelv  know 
how,  pa.ssed  out  of  my  possession;  for,  as  the  handwriting  <if  lurh  a 
man  could  not  fail  of  being  the  object  of  intense  curiosity  and  of  tleop 
interest  wuth  the  multitudes  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  who  admired 
his  talents  and  venerated  his  name,  I  found  it  dilHcuU  to  retain  m  my 
possession  any  scrap  that  bore  the  impress  of  his  hand. 

In  one  of  my  letters  to  this  beloved  and  illustrious  man,  1  U-ggcd 
him,  with  an  importunity  never  addressed  by  me  to  any  other  jwrMon, 
to  favor  the  American  Churches  with  a  visit.  I  know  not  that  1  ever 
had  so  ardent  a  desire  to  behold  the  face  and  to  hear  the  voice  «.f  any 
other  human  being  ;  and  now.  painfully  aware,  of  course,  that  I  can 
never  enjo}'  this  privilege,  I  feel  a  kind  of  solicitude  that  I  never  felt  1k?- 
fore  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  great  biographical  trust  committed 
to  your  hands. 

I  rejoice  to  have  seen  all  the  works  of  this  vcnernblp  servant  of 
Christ  that  have  been  placed  within  my  reach  ;  but  I  must  .*ay  thai 
those  from  which  I  have  received  the  deej»est  im|»ressioii  of  ih»»  rcai 
glory  of  his  character  have  been  bis  posthumous  trntinf^s.  Of  the  vig- 
or  and  elevation  of  his  mind  I  had  enjoyed  pnwif  enough  from  the  many 
volumes  which  had  long  .since  fallen  under  my  notice.  Hut  from  Mune 
of  his  most  unstudied  writings  which  have  lately  met  my  eye,  I  liova 
received  impressions  o(  his  moral  and  heavenly  granilcur  «•[  m.uI  yrenl- 
Iv  beyond  those  which  I  had  received  from  the  mullipiu'd  and  rich  |trt»- 
ductions  of  his  genius.  I  thank  his  G<kI  and  my  (i<Kl  that  1  have  U^en 
permitted  to  see  those  last  eH'usions  of  his  heart  ami  bis  |>eii.  They 
have  much  enlarged  mv  views  of  his  Chri-iian  grcatut-Ki,  and,  I  hojie, 
have  not  been  without  benefit  to  my  own  .soul. 

But  among  all  those  who  will  take  such  a  deep  and  tender  interest 
in  your  work,  there  are,  perhaps,  few  less  likely  than  myself  to  enjoy 
the  pleasure  of  seeing  it  completed.  Being  far  ndvNnre*!  in  my  ncv. 
enty-ninth  vear.  and  daily  admonished  by  many  inrtrmiiics  that  I  mu.i 
soon  -piit  otitbis  tabernacle,"  it  is  not  very  probable  that  I  ^haII  %or. 
vive  the  publication  of  your  precious  Memoir.  Bui  be  »t  ihj  :  ibi*  wil 
be  of  small  importance'  to  any  one.      Many  in  l>oth  berowpbcrr*  will 


318  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


read  it,  enjoy  it,  and  be,  I  trust,  the  better  for  it ;  and  in  the  mean 
while,  I  shall  be,  I  hope,  so  happy  as  to  join  the  great  and  beloved  man 
himself,  whom  all  have  for  a  time  lost,  and  to  see  him  face  to  face  in 
a  more  enlii^htened  and  happy  world,  and  to  unite  with  him  in  the  end- 
less praise  and  enjoyment  of  that  precious  Savior,  whose  atoning  sacri- 
fice and  perfect  righteousness  are  "  all  my  salvation  and  all  my  de- 
sire." I  am,  reverend  and  dear  sir,  most  respectfully  your  friend  and 
brother  in  Christian  bonds.  Samuel  Miller.      - 

To  the  Rev.  Wm.  Hanna.] 

No.  CCLXVIL— To  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  Miller. 

Edinburgh,  28th  December^  1840. 

My  dear  Sir — I  owe  you  many  apologies  for  not  having 
replied  sooner  to  your  letter  of  the  28th  of  January  of  last 
year.  The  truth  is,  that  my  whole  attention  has  been  ab- 
sorbed by  the  questions  and  the  difficulties  of  our  own  Church ; 
and  I  positively  have  had  no  remaining  strength  or  time  for 
the  American  controversy,  of  which  you  have  sent  me  so  full 
and  interesting  an  account  in  your  kind  communication.  It 
is  well,  however,  that  there  was  no  immediate  practical  ne- 
cessity for  giving  one's  mind  to  the  subject,  seeing  that,  so 
far  as  I  know,  there  was  no  application  made  by  your  seced- 
ing party  for  a  recognition  of  their  views  by  the  General  As- 
sembly of  the  Church  of  Scotland. 

I  hope  you  received  a  former  letter  of  mine  on  the  subject 
of  your  book  respecting  the  "  Eldership,"  which  I  have  ever 
reeoin mended  to  my  classes  as  the  best  I  know  on  its  own 
especial  topic,  besides  being  an  admirable  general  vindication 
of  the  Presbyterian  polity.  I  am  much  interested  by  your 
argument  for  the  separation  of  the  two  orders  of  elders  and 
deacons,  the  conjunction  of  which  I  have  ever  deprecated  as 
the  most  incongruous  of  all  pluralities. 

With  earnest  prayer  for  your  continued  public  usefulness 
and  personal  comfort,  and  in  humble  hope  that  we  shall  meet 
in  heaven,  I  entreat  you  to  believe  me,  my  dear  sir,  yours 
most  respectfully  and  cordially,  Thomas  Chalmers. 


REV.  THOMAS  GRTNFIELD. 


319 


No.  CCLXVIll._To  Rev.  Thomas  OJrinkield.  Cl.fton. 

BlRNTISI.ANU,    28M   ./?/in7.    ISll. 

My  dear  Sir— II  is  impossible  not  to  be  highly  pratifie.l 
by  your  letter  of  the  20th,  in  which  you  speak  so  lavcrably 
of  my  "  Treatise  on  Natural  Theology."  J  jabor  under  th*. 
discountenance  of  one  principal  Review,  and  the  positive  hos- 
tility of  another.  First,  the  "  Edinbui-gh,"  chiefly  (I  believe) 
from  a  difference  iii  our  politics  :  secondly,  the  "  Uuarlerly." 
whose  editor,  a  Scotchman,  has  been  my  unrelenting  adver- 
sary for  more  than  twenty  years.  It  is,  therefore,  all  the 
more  pleasing  when  a  literary  and  profeswionai  man  like 
yourself  gives  his  attention  to  my  various  theses,  and  records 
a  favorable  impression  of  them.  Believe  me  ever,  my  dear 
sir,  yours  very  truly,  Thoma.s  Chalmers. 

No.  CCLXIX. — To  Rev.  Thomas  Grinfield,  Clifton. 

BiRNTisLAND,  I6lh  Junt^  1841. 

My  dear  Sir — I  should  have  much  sooner  acknowledged 
your  last  of  May  1st;  but  I  have  been  in  feeble  health,  and 
much  and  painfully  engrossed  with  the  troubles  of  our  Churrh. 

I  got  an  interdict  served  on  me  this  day.  which  I  mean  to 
disregard  :  and  on  the  identical  princi])le  which  would  decide 
an  English  bishop  to  disregard  the  mandate  of  a  civil  court, 
either  to  admit  or  exclude  a  man  from  holy  orders. 

I  read  your  pamphlet*  with  great  interest  a  few  dayj»  after 
its  arrival,  and  can  not  but  augur  great  good  from  the  estab- 
lishment in  your  important  city  of  such  an  association  a»  that 
before  which  it  was  read.  I  was  much  pleaM^I  with  the 
"Lecture;"  and  while  1  thank  you  most  cordially  for  your 
most  kind  mention  of  myself,  I  must  also  express  my  wtisfac- 
tion  at  the  testimony  you  give,  and  which  you  have  so  well 
established,  to  the  harmony  of  the  two  faculties  of  reason  and 
imagination — an  important  principle  truly,  and  sadly  ovvr- 
looked  by  those  heartless  Statists  and  TTtilitarianc  who  think 

*  '-Lecture  on  Imagination  and  Poetry,  with  a  Speoinl  Krl«  r.  : 
the  Poetry  of  the  Bible,""  delivered  before  tho  Bristol  lUJt  Anm«  . ; 


320  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

that  nothing  can  be  true  which  is  beautiful,  and  nothing  beau- 
tiful which  is  true. 

You  have  succeeded,  though  against  the  authority  of  Sam- 
uel Johnson,  in  demonstrating  that  sacred  subjects  admit  of 
being  represented  in  the  style  and  with  all  the  effect  of  the 
highest  poetry.  Ever  beheve  me,  my  dear  sir,  yours  most 
gratefully  and  cordially,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCLXX. — To  Rev.  Thomas  Grinfield,  Clifton. 
Burntisland,  1st  September,  1841. 

My  dear  Sip^ — Your  letter  has  been  too  long  unanswered ; 
but  we  are  still  in  the  thick  of  our  Church  contests,  with  a 
majority  (I  hope  and  believe)  of  our  Establishment  in  readi- 
ness to  give  up  their  connection  with  it,  rather  than  submit 
our  ecclesiastical  affairs  to  the  Erastian  control  of  the  civil 
power. 

I  gave  orders  to  my  bookseller  to  send  for  your  acceptance 
each  volume  of  the  series  as  it  comes  out.  I  expect  vol.  xxi. 
to  be  published  on  the  1st  of  October.  It  consists  of  alto- 
gether new  matter,  and  on  a  subject  which  I  should  like  to 
be  well  understood  in  England,  that  of  Pauperism — a  ques- 
tion far  from  being  either  practically  or  doctrinally  settled  in 
either  of  the  two  countries. 

The  manifold  distractions  of  our  Church  controversy  have 
interrupted  the  forthcoming  of  my  works,  which  will  now  be 
resumed.  I  feel  that  any  vigor  I  ever  had,  whether  in  liter- 
ature or  in  public  life,  is  rapidly  abating.  There  is  a  higher 
and  more  satisfying  pursuit  than  either,  and  in  which  I  pray 
that  God  by  His  grace  might  advance  and  perfect  us  both. 
May  our  souls  prosper  and  be  in  health  ;  and  for  this  great- 
est and  best  of  all  communications,  I  would  seek  more  and 
more  unto  Him  who  alone  hath  the  words  and  alone  hath  the 
gift  of  life  everlasting.  I  ever  am,  my  dear  sir,  yours  very 
t^"ly»  Thomas  Chalmers. 


REV.  HENRY  BELL.  wi 


No.  CCLXXL— To  Rev.  Thomas  Guinfield,  Clifton. 

16M  Decembrr,   1K41. 

My  dear  Sir — I  received  your  "  Syllabus  of  Lectures  on 
Milton,"  and  feel  quite  sure  that  your  converse  in  this  mode 
with  the  citizens  of  Bristol  must  have  a  refining  and  elevat- 
ing influence  on  the  public  mind  of  your  city.  I  take  your 
friendly  advice  as  very  kind,  prompted,  as  I  am  sure  it  is,  by 
the  breathings  of  a  real  wish  for  my  safety  and  well-being. 

I  am  always  delighted  by  a  letter  from  you,  being  ever,  my 
dear  sir,  yours  most  affectionately  and  with  great  esteem, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCLXXIL— To  Rev.  Henry  Bell. 

Edinburgh,  \6th  January,   1H36. 

My  dear  Sir — I  have  just  time  to  request  your  acceptance 
of  a  copy  of  the  fourth  edition  of  my  "  Bridgewater  Treatise." 

I  look  back  with  great  pleasure  and  much  thankfulness  to 
our  Matlock  visit,  and  to  all  the  kindness  we  received  from 
you — a  pleasure  only  marred  by  the  recollection  of  my  own 
impatience  of  feeling  at  the  delay  in  our  getting  off.  from 
some  mistake  of  the  coachman.  What  a  bright  and  beauti- 
ful world  we  live  in,  and  how  abundant  in  all  the  means  of 
enjoyment,  but  for  the  sad  perversity  of  our  own  distempered 
spirits  I 

Mrs.  Chalmers,  who  has  been  long  an  invalid,  joins  mo 
with  Eliza  in  kindest  remembrances  both  to  yourself  and 
Mrs.  Bell.  Ever  believe  me,  my  dear  sir,  yours  very  affec- 
tionately and  truly,  Tho.mas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCLXXIIL— To  Rev.  Henry  Bell. 

Edinburgh,  2Hth  Octobtr,  1846. 

My  dear  Sir— I  have  read  so  much  of  your  volume,  and 

like  it  exceedingly.     I  think  there  is  great  beauly  in  it*  r..,,,. 

position,  and  that  its  literary  merits  stand  very  high       Hut  I 

was  still  more  struck  with  the  amount  of  thought  in  it.  •...! 

O  2 


322  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


more  especially  with  the  instruction  deduced  from  the  pas- 
sages, or  rather  from  the  clauses  that  you  comment  upon.  I 
have  marked  particularly  what  suggests  a  new  argument  for 
the  plenary  and  universal  inspiration  of  the  Bible.  I  rather 
regret  the  anti-Calvinism  that  you  have  discovered  ;  but  let 
that  pass.  I  have  finished  lecture  second,  and  am  only  sorry 
that  at  the  commencement  of  my  winter  duties  my  perusal 
of  your  work  must  go  on  very  slowly.  I  have  no  doubt  of  its 
favorable  reception. 

I  am  much  interested  by  what  you  state  of  Professor  Lee's 
"  New  Theory  of  Hebrew  Tenses."  I  should  like  that  you 
made  known  that  your  views  for  the  application  of  the  plu- 
perfect to  the  1st  and  2d  verses  of  the  1st  chapter  of  Genesis 
would  bring  philology  and  geology  at  one.  My  own  sense 
of  the  meaning  was  made  known  to  the  world  in  1814,  and 
shown  to  Professor  Buckland  in  1835,  who  adopted  it  in  his 
"  Bridgewater  Treatise,"  but  without  acknowledgment. 

Have  you  seen  Elliott's  "  Horse  Apocalypticae  ?"  He  makes 
a  very  unwarranted  attack  on  our  Free  Church,  and  has  been 
ably  replied  to  by  Dr.  Candlish,  in  a  pamphlet  of  which  I  will 
send  you  a  copy. 

Mrs.  Chalmers  joins  me  in  the  kindest  regards  to  you  and 
Mrs.  Bell.  I  cherish  a  most  pleasant  recollection  of  our  last 
visit  to  you.  If  the  venerable  Mrs.  Fox  be  still  alive,  offer 
her  my  most  affectionate  remembrances,  and  the  same  to  Dr. 
Douglas  Fox  and  all  the  family.     I  am  yours,  &c., 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCLXXIV. — To  THE  Rev.  Timothy  East,  Birming- 
ham. 
Edinburgh,  23d  January,  1847. 
My  dear  Sir — I  shall  have  great  pleasure  in  recommend- 
ing your  volume  to  my  students.     I  would  have  applied  my- 
self more  closely  to  the  whole  subject  some  time  ago,  but  the 
truth  is,  my  theological  course  is  one  of  three  years'  duration, 
and  I  do  not  get  at  the  subject  of  the  divinity  of  our  Savior 


REV.  EBENEZER  BROWN  ^ 

till  next  month,  when  I  shall  have  oc^si^to'.tate  my'fi; 
vorable  m.press.n  of  the  n.ents  of  your  work  ;  after  wind  .^ 
will  hear  what  the  result  ,s  to  be.  I  am  mucl.  ,lea.ed  Jiih 
the  new  .ghts  into  which  the  ar,n,n.ent  has  been  cast  by 
you,  aiul  tlnnk  it  of  great  advantage  to  the  slucicnt«  that 
they  should,  after  studying  the  critical  and  scientific  argu- 
ments, be  thrown  abroad,  as  it  were,  on  a  general  work  i.ke 
yours,  which  takes  its  own  independent  and  very  intelhijent 
view  of  the  doctrine.  I  shall  probably  read  out  to  my  «tu. 
dents  those  pas.sages  which  I  have  marked,  as  having  in 'them 
the  characters  of  originality  along  with  great  weight. 

Forgive  me  for  saying  that  I  think  you  have  expanded  too 
much  in  the  latter  part  of  the  volume,  which  adm.ts.  in  my 
opinion,  of  a  good  deal  of  compression,  witbout  any  iracrifice 
of  the  sterling  quality  of  the  argument. 

I  did  not  congenialize  with  the  instance  which  you  gave 
of  the  Bishop  of  Exeter,  which,  whether  correct  in  itself  or  not, 
had  better  have  been  avoided.  I  have  not  yet  finished  the 
perusal  of  it,  having  about  loO  pages  more  to  read.  I  arn 
not  aware  of  any  work  on  the  subject  so  well  adapted  for 
general  and  family  reading;  and  I  have  often  regretted  that, 
besides  having  works  on  each  of  the  great  doclrinei?  of  Chn»- 
tianity,  altogether  of  a  critical  and  controversial  characUT, 
we  should  not  have  works  made  up  of  those  kind  and  imprew- 
ive  appeals,  which  form  the  main  staple  of  your  volume,  and 
which  may  be  read  and  recognized  of  all  men.  With  many 
apologies  for  my  long  delay,  1  am,  my  dear  sir,  youm  ver)-  re- 
spectfully and  truly,  Thomas  Chalmcrh. 

No.  CCLXXV. — To  THE  Rev.  Ebenezer  Brown,  op  Inver- 
KEiTHiNG,  Fife. 

Gla.sgo\v,  ]5th  Derrmher,  1821. 
My  dear  Sir — I  received  your  much  esteemed  note  yes- 
terday.     I  am  quite  aware  that  its  suggestions  are  not  only 
very  kind,  but  very  necessary  ;  for  I  am  sure  that  Iwith  in  lan- 
guage and  ill  spirit  we  lie  under  many  templaUou*  to  depart 


324  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

from  the  simplicity  that  is  in  Christ.  I  can  truly  say  that  I 
have  the  utmost  relish  for  those  evangelical  authors  v^^hose 
style  is  that  of  great  homeliness,  while  clearly  and  forcibly 
expressive  of  the  great  truths  of  tlie  Gospel ;  and,  lastly,  I 
have  read  with  great  satisfaction  your  work  of  "  Romaine 
on  Faith,"  whose  ever-pervading  idea  is  just  that  of  Jesus 
Christ  and  Him  crucified.  The  constant  presentation  of  this 
truth,  so  far  from  being  offensive  to  a  spiritual  man  because 
he  heard  it  before  so  often,  is  like  the  constant  presentation 
of  the  same  food,  agreeable  and  welcome  to  him  because  he 
is  hungry  ;  and  it  is  indeed  a  tremendous  thought  that  by  the 
wisdom  of  words  the  cross  of  Christ  may  be  made  of  no  effect. 

There  is  one  thing,  however,  that  ought  to  be  adverted  to; 
the  difference  of  styles  is  somewhat  like  the  difference  of 
dialects.  You  would  not  have  a  plain  Yorkshire  minister 
when  he  comes  to  your  neighborhood  attempt  to  preach  in 
the  dialect  of  Fife.  His  own  dialect  is  the  best  for  his  own 
people.  And  in  like  manner,  there  is  a  style  proper  to  every 
one,  whether  it  be  natural  or  acquired,  which  perhaps  is  the 
best  for  one  class  of  ministers,  though  unsuitable  to  another. 
God  interposed  with  a  miracle  of  tongues,  that  the  Gospel 
might  be  preached  to  every  man  in  his  own  language  ;  and 
it  is  perhaps  in  unison  with  this  principle  of  His  administra- 
tion that  He  rears  a  diversity  of  authors,  who  may  speak  to 
the  people  each  in  his  own  style  or  dialect  the  wonderful 
works  of  God.  I  have  much  more  to  say  upon  this  subject, 
but  I  must  postpone  the  subject  till  we  meet  and  talk  about  it. 

May  I  entreat  your  prayers,  for  which,  I  assure  you,  I  shall 
have  the  same  value  that  I  would  for  the  prayers  of  a  ven- 
erable and  much-loved  father.  May  the  God  of  all  comfort 
rejoice  your  heart  with  the  tokens  and  demonstrations  of  your 
usefulness  ;  and  let  it  be  our  united  supplication  to  Him,  that 
He  would  pour  down  of  that  Spirit  upon  our  land,  without 
which  all  human  exertion  is  powerless  as  infancy. 

Give  my  best  compliments  to  your  brother  when  you  write 
him  or  see  him,  with  whom,  as  with  yourself,  I  have  had 


COUNTESS  OF  ELGIN. 


Stft 


some  very  congenial  and  much  valued  fellowbhip.      I  am.  my 
dear  sir,  yours  most  aflectionately,       Thomas  Chalmkiij,. 

No.  CCLXXVI. — To  THE  Countess  of  Elgin. 

Edinburgh,  ]$t  Junf.  1826. 

My  Lady — Your  ladyship's  ver>'  kind  letter  \va»  lonjj  of 
reaching  me,  partly  from  Mr.  Whyte's  ignorance  of  the  place 
where  I  first  resided  when  I  came  to  Edinburgh,  and  partly 
from  the  change  of  place  which  I  have  undergone  during  my 
stay  in  the  metropolis. 

I  feel  myself  greatly  flattered  and  obliged  by  your  lady- 
ship's goodness  in  having  again  tendered  me  so  pressing  an 
invitation  to  come  to  Broomhall ;  and  there  is  notiunp  which 
could  afibrd  me  greater  enjoyment  than  to  renew  the  Chris- 
tian and  intellectual  gratifications  which  I  have  had  ilic  hap- 
piness so  often  to  experience  there.  This  is  an  object  which 
I  shall  study  to  achieve  in  the  course  of  my  present  college 
vacation.  Just  now  there  is  a  very  particular  avocation  which 
makes  it  impossible  for  me  to  go  any  where  but  the  east  of 
Fife,  and  that  is,  the  marriage  of  a  sister,  which  takes  place 
early  next  week.  I  shall  be  much  occupied  both  before  and 
after  that  event  with  home  matters;  but  1  am  not  without 
hopes  of  being  able  through  the  summer  to  realize  that  con- 
verse which,  I  crave  your  ladyship's  forgivenesa  for  saying. 
has  left  a  fragrance  behind  it,  and  the  remembrance  of  which 
is  sweet. 

We  have  lost  ground  7i%imericaUy  this  year  on  the  plural- 
ity question,  but  we  have  not  lost  heart ;  and  it  is  my  feeling 
that  bating  this  and  another  distressing  division,  this  Assem- 
bly has,  on  the  whole,  had  a  ver)'  promising  asi>ect,  and  the 
spirit  of  our  Church  is-uncquivocally  improving. 

I  beg  my  most  respectful  compliments  to  the  Ladies  Bruce. 
and  t©  Lords  Elgin  and  Bruce,  who  I  know  are  at  pn-srnl 
from  home.  I  have  the  honor  to  be.  my  lady,  your  l.idy- 
ship's  most  obliged  and  obedient  servant, 

TiicMAs  Chalmliis 


326  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

No.  CCLXXVII.— To  THE  Countess  of  Elgin. 

Edinburgh,  6th  March,  1830. 

My  Lady — I  received  your  deeply  interesting  letter,  the 
perusal  of  which,  I  can  assure  your  ladyship,  has  given  me 
unfeigned  satisfaction.  I  hold  the  faith  and  the  feelings 
therein  expressed  to  be  altogether  legitimate — warranted  as 
they  are  by  the  terms  in  which  the  Gospel  overtures  are 
framed,  and  which  direct  us  to  look  for  the  primary  object  of 
our  confidence,  not  inwardly  upon,  ourselves,  but  outwardly  to 
the  Savior. 

I  have  repeatedly  expressed  my  regret  that  the  admirable 
general  lesson  of  Mr.  Erskine's  book  should  have  had  the  bur- 
den of  one  questionable  and  obnoxious  expression  laid  upon 
it,  and  which  I  foresaw  would  frustrate  and  overbear  the 
good  of  his  publication  by  the  interminable  controversy  that 
would  arise  from  it.  All  men  are  not  pardoned,  but  all  men. 
have  the  pardon  laid  down  for  their  acceptance  ;  and  the  lat- 
ter is  just  as  effective  an  exhibition  of  the  Divine  character  as 
the  former,  without  the  heavy  exception  of  being  unscriptu- 
ral,  and  liable  to  be  abused  to  Antinomianism. 

I  feel  that  I  could  talk  on  this  subject  far  better  than 
write  ;  and  therefore  I  look  forward  with  great  interest  to  my 
purposed  visit  to  Broomhall,  so  soon  as  we  are  fairly  settled 
in  our  new  house,  which  I  expect  will  take  place  in  the  mid- 
dle of  April. 

With  most  respectful  compliments  to  Lord  Elgin,  I  have 
the  honor  to  be,  my  lady,  your  ladyship's  most  obliged  and 
obedient  servant,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCLXXVIII.— To  the  Countess  of  Elgin. 

Edinburgh,  2d  June,  1831. 
My  Lady — I  beg  to  send  your  ladyship  the  pamphlet  on 
the  Poor  Laws,  along  with  Sir  John  Sinclair's  and  two  tracts 
of  my  own.  The  one  on  the  National  Debt  may  not  be  very 
interesting,  yet  if  sound,  and  I  can  not  find  out  a  flaw  in  the 
reasoning,  leads  to  a  conclusion  of  great  practical  importance, 


LADY  MATILDA  MAXWELL.  3^:^ 


I  regret  that  I  can  not  lay  my  hands  on  Mr.  Drummond's 
or  Mr.  Irving's  letter  on  the  subject  of  Mi.ss  Mowbray,  an.l  I 
suspect  they  are  still  in  her  father's  hands.  I  have,  howevt-r. 
the  satisfaction  of  sending  Mr.  Campbell's. 

I  returned  in  time  to  be  present  at  the  discussion  of  Mr 
S.'s  and  Mr.  Irving's  cases.  Mr.  S.'s  ver>'  appearance  at  the 
bar  of  the  Assembly  involved  in  it  a  practical  bull,  and  the 
decision  was  inevitable.  Of  all  the  motions  that  were  fabri- 
cated on  Mr.  Irving's  question,  I  think  the  one  adopted  wa« 
the  best. 

I  grieve  for  poor  Campbell.  He  was  probably  right  in 
idea,  but  if  he  obstinately  persist  in  couching  that  right  idea 
in  a  wrong  phraseology,  he  may  not  be  the  less  daneerous  as 
an  expounder  of  truth.  The  man  wliose  sound  views  may 
save  himself,  might  still,  by  abandoning  the  form  of  sound 
words,  mislead  others.  Yet  I  can  not  help  being  in  great 
heaviness  on  his  account. 

It  is  ominous  that  Spencer  Drummond,  who  is  now  in  Ed- 
inburgh, should  at  this  moment  have  seceded  from  the  Church 
of  England  because  of  its  tenet  of  universal  redemption,  when 
our  own  tenet  of  particular  redemption  has  driven  Mr.  Camp- 
bell beyond  the  pale  of  the  Scottish  Establishment. 

I  never  leave  Broomhall  without  the  feeling  of  it«  being 
the  most  congenial  moral  atmosphere  I  breathe  any  where. 
My  regret  at  parting  from  it  at  this  time  was  agpravalcd 
greatly  by  what  I  perceived  were  the  sufleringH  of  Lord  El- 
gin. It  is  our  duty  earnestly  to  pray  for  their  allevialion. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be,  my  lady,  your  ladyship's  most  obliged 
and  obedient  servant,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCLXXIX-.— To  L.vDY  Matilda  Maxwell. 

'22d  OcloUr,  1843. 

Dear  Lady  Matilda — I  very  sincerely  regret  thai  I  can 

not  avail  myself  of  your  kind  invitation — obliged  to  leave  on 

Wednesday,  and  engrossed  every  moment  before  it.     I  rausl 

confess  myself  to  have  been  greatly  touched  by  your  allusion*. 


328  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

both  to  your  dear  father  and  to  poor  Lady  Elgin,  whose  trag- 
ical death  moved  and  affected  me  greatly. 

I  should  have  rejoiced  if  I  had  had  it  in  my  povi^er  to  have 
taken  refuge  for  a  few  days  in  the  asylum  of  peace  and  friend- 
ship which  your  goodness  has  proposed  for  me,  there  to  have 
renewed  the  associations  of  former  days,  and  to  have  had  a 
brief  but  happy  breathing-time  from  the  fatigues  and  anxie- 
ties of  this  stormy  period, 

I  beg  that  you  will  offer  my  most  respectful  acknowledg- 
ments to  Mr.  Maxwell ;  and  with  earnest  prayer  that  we 
may  all  meet  in  that  heaven  where  separation  is  unknown, 
and  charity  ever  reigneth,  I  always  am,  my  dear  Lady  Ma- 
tilda, yours  with  greatest  esteem  and  regard, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCLXXX.— To  Lady  Carnegie. 

Glasgow,  3d  February,  1823. 

My  dear  Lady  Carnegie — I  have  looked  over  the  papers 
which  relate  to  Ireland,  and  shall  give  them  over  to  Mr. 
M'Gregor  as  your  ladyship  directed  me. 

I  feel  the  weight  and  magnitude  of  the  object  to  be  such 
that  I  would  not  venture  on  any  deliverance  without  the  act- 
ual survey  of  an  Irish  district  in  person,  and  the  leisurely  at- 
tention of  many  weeks  to  the  topic  in  all  its  bearings.  I 
shall,  therefore,  satisfy  myself  at  present  with  a  few  remarks 
that  have  occurred  to  me  during  the  perusal  of  those  interest- 
ing documents  which  have  been  put  into  my  hand. 

1.  I  rejoice  to  observe  a  progress  toward  that  subdivision 
of  effort  which  is  so  requisite.  Lr  proportion  as  this  is  carried 
forward  will  there  be  a  relief  felt  from  that  unwieldiness 
which  has  hitherto  stamped  such  an  impotency  on  all  the 
plans  of  a  very  ambitious  and  extended  benevolence. 

2.  So  much  am  I  impressed  with  the  truth  of  the  above 
remark,  that  I  should  have  greater  comfort  in  the  mean  time 
did  I  contribute  my  subscription  to  one  complete  and  concen- 
trated operation  on  a  single  parish  than  to  a  thin  and  evanes- 


LADY  CARNEGIE. 


cent  sprinkling  of  good  over  a  whole  country.  I  feel  quite  as- 
sured that  the  exhibition  of  a  model  in  philanthropy  will  do 
more  for  the  cause  than  a  magiuficent  aim  with  an  execution 
that  lags  at  a  most  hopeless  distance  behind  it.  The  succebK 
of  a  process  upon  an  experimental  farm  would  give  a  far 
more  beneficial  impulse  to  agriculture  than  a  large  grant 
from  the  Exchequer,  to  be  divided  equally  among  all  the  par- 
ishes of  the  empire. 

3.  I  feel  the  more  comfort  in  advancing  this  suggestion 
that  I  do  not  thereby  supercede  or  discourage  any  extcn<ifd 
operation  which  may  be  going  on  at  present  in  the  county 
of  Clare.  I  simply  recommend,  as  an  addition  to  the  whole, 
that  there  shall  be  the  singling  out  of  one  manageable  parish 
in  which  there  may  be  immediately  established  a  full  system 
of  the  means  of  moral  and  economical  amelioration  devised 
on  the  soundest  principles,  and  which  shall  not  be  sutiered  to 
labor  under  the  want  or  the  shortcoming  of  any  one  instru- 
ment that  is  fitted  to  give  efficacy  to  the  experiment. 

4.  I  liked  the  small  pamphlet  very  much,  and  chiefly  be- 
cause of  the  intercourse  which  its  plans  would  necessarily  pro- 
duce between  females  of  the  higher  and  lower  orders.  All 
my  experience  has  convinced  me  that  from  no  human  influ- 
ence does  a  more  rapid  civilization  ensue  than  from  the  j»cr- 
sonal  attention  of  ladies  to  the  children  of  the  p<x)r. 

5.  I  liked  the  simplicity  of  its  objects,  viz.,  the  cleanlinow 
and  personal  habits  of  the  peasantry,  and  to  which  I  would 
superadd,  as  far  as  practicable,  their  education,  comprehen- 
sive of  reading  to  all,  and  sewing  to  the  girls. 

6.  It  is  a  mistake  to  think  that  there  is  no  limit  to  profit- 
able work  ;  we  can  no  more  provide  work  for  the  employ- 
ment of  all  in  a  well-peopled  country  than  foo<l  for  the  sub- 
sistence of  all.  I  should  like  to  see  every  plan  delivered  fn.in 
errors  in  political  economy  ;  and  be  assured  that  there  is  no 
permanent  amelioration  to  be  looked  for  but  in  such  an  clr- 
vation  of  mind  and  manners  throughout  the  general  ina-  of 
the  natives  as  that,  under  the  impulse  of  th.ir  own  imprpr^J 


330  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

taste,  they  shall  at  length  become  the  willing  agents  in  rais- 
ing and  improving  their  own  condition.  You  will  alwa5'^s 
find  that,  in  the  absence  of  poor-rates,  the  average  style  of 
comfort  among  the  people  determines  their  habits,  whether  of 
prudence  or  of  precipitation  as  to  marriage.  Should  a  high- 
er demand  for  comfort  be  at  length  introduced  among  the 
peasantry  of  Ireland,  this  would  restrain  these  improvident 
connections,  which  I  hold  to  be  a  palpable  and  immediate 
cause  of  wretchedness  in  every  population.  Now  this  is  not 
to  be  done  in  a  day  ;  let  us  be  thankful  if  it  should  be  done  in 
a  century,  and  meanwhile,  let  each  of  us  suit  his  movements 
to  the  mediocrity  of  his  powers,  more  satisfied  with  doing  a 
small  thing  thoroughly  well  than  with  the  short-lived  glory 
of  a  splendid  enterprise  that  vanishes  in  smoke.     I  am,  &c., 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCLXXXI.— To  Lady  O'Brien. 
My  dear  Lady  O'Brien^I.  I  should  even  think  Ennis  to 
be  too  wide  a  field,  and  I  should  prefer  a  district  of  the  town 
with  a  population  of  three  thousand,  and  this  district  the 
poorest  in  the  place. 

2.  A  chapel  to  be  built  in  it,  with  a  minister  who  had  the 
zeal  and  spirit  of  a  most  devoted  missionary,  but  who  at  the 
same  time,  totally  free  of  all  partisansliip,  could  so  manage 
his  addresses,  both  from  the  pulpit  and  in  private  houses,  as 
never  once  to  advert  to  such  a  distinction  as  that  which  ob- 
tains between  Catholics  and  Protestants.  This,  I  think,  he 
may  do  under  the  single  impulse  of  a  desire  for  the  spiritual 
and  everlasting  good  of  all,  and  without  any  dereliction  of 
that  faithfulness  which  is  incumbent  upon  him  as  an  ex- 
pounder of  God's  will  for  man's  salvation. 

3.  The  way  to  mark  that  more  special  reference  which  the 
chapel  has  to  the  district  than  to  the  general  town  is,  first,  by 
holding  out  the  preference  for  seats  to  those  who  reside  with- 
in the  limits  of  the  district ;  and,  secondly,  by  the  minister's 
assiduous  cultivation  of  it  as  the  peculiar  vineyard  of  his 
household  and  week-day  attentions. 


LADY  O'BRIEN. 


S31 


4.  Let  not  the  sittings  be  gratuitous.  If  llu*  people  are 
poor,  let  the  seat-rent  be  the  smaller  on  that  account ;  but  k-t 
there  be  a  rent,  however  trilling,  that  the  people  may  have  a 
feeling  of  property  in  their  assigned  pews,  and  more  e»j)ecial- 
ly  that  there  may  be  a  distinct  and  tangible  right  by  whicii 
to  fence  the  local  congregation  from  the  intrusions  of  the  town 
at  large. 

5.  The  demand  for  seats  may  at  first  be  small,  but  the  un- 
wearied ministrations  of  the  clergyman  irom  house  to  house 
will  make  it  great.  Whatever  vacant  room  is  over  after  the 
local  demand  has  been  met  and  satisfied,  should  then  be  ex- 
posed to  the  whole  population. 

6.  The  minister  will  soon  obtain  such  an  ascendency  over 
the  families  of  his  district  as  would  render  him  the  ethcient 
instrument  for  stimulating  all  those  economic  and  education- 
al processes  that  might  be  judged  expedient. 

7.  He  should  be  a  man  who,  standing  between  the  rich  and 
the  poor,  could  as  fearlessly  tell  the  latter  of  their  duty  in  re- 
spect of  industiy,  independence,  cleanliness,  &c.,  as  he  could 
tell  the  former  of  their  duty  as  the  stewards  ami  almoners  of 
Heavens  bounty. 

8.  And  he  should  know  that  it  is  utterly  im|K)ssible  to 
achieve  one  valuable  object  of  philanthropy  by  letting  forth 
all  the  streams  of  affluence  on  the  relief  of  indigence,  that 
this  last  duty  should  be  performed  unseen,  and  without  the 
publicity  which  combination  is  sure  to  give  it ;  and  that  the 
only  visible  movement  in  behalfof  the  pot)r(in  ordinary  lunen) 
should  be  for  the  purpose  of  moralizing  and  enlightening  ihetn  ; 
it  being  always  understood  that  every  scheme,  even  for  their 
temporal  comfort,  will  fail,  which  is  not  founded  on  the  bacit 
of  their  own  improved  hearts  and  habits. 

9.  The  minister  will  be  greatly  the  better  of  a  band  of  as- 
sociates, with  each  having  the  management  of  his  own  Mib- 
district,  and  being  thoroughly  impressed  with  kindreni  pnnri- 
ples  to  his  own,  both  in  regard  to  the  eoonomiai  of  ihr  p«.ple 
and  their  higher  interests. 


333  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

I  am  aware  of  many  difficulties  which  might  be  felt  in  the 
perusal  of  the  above  sketch  ;  but  I  shall  not  anticipate  them, 
and  rather  leave  them  to  be  started  ere  I  attempt  to  do  them 
away. 

N.B. — The  effect  of  repeated  domiciliary  visits,  when  con- 
ducted with  kindness  and  judgment,  is  altogether  unknown, 
and  even  the  obstinacy  of  Catholic  prejudices  is  not  able  to 
withstand  it.     Yours,  &c.,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCLXXXIL 

Glasgow,  12th  May,  1823. 

My  dear  Madam — I  have  perused  with  great  interest  the 
letters  of  Lady  O'Brien,  and  have  transmitted  them  to  Mr. 
M'Gregor.  I  still  think  that,  instead  of  taking  any  other  part 
in  the  more  extended  movements  which  are  going  on  for  Ire- 
land than  subscribing  for  them  as  others  do,  her  ladyship 
would  serve  the  cause  more  effectually  by  concentrating  her 
strength  upon  a  third  part  of  the  town  of  Ennis. 

The  regeneration  of  a  country  is  never  to  be  accomplished 
in  any  other  way  than  by  a  piecemeal  operation — by  each  in- 
dividual philanthropist  doing  his  part  within  a  sphere  that  is 
commensurate  to  his  influence  and  to  his  powers.  When  the 
Spirit  of  God  writes  in  many  hearts  the  sacred  law,  then  the 
owner  of  each  individual  heart  will  go  forth  upon  that  portion 
of  the  field  which  is  within  his  reach,  and  do  with  all  his 
might  that  which  his  hand  findeth  to  do.  It. is  not  the  local 
system  that  will  regenerate  our  land,  but  a  host  of  spiritual 
men  must  go  forth  in  the  day  of  God's  power,  and  calculating 
aright  on  the  most  effective  way  of  distributing  their  forces. 
I  think  that  the  result  of  this  concentration  would  be  the 
adoption  of  the  local  system  with  a  busy  operation  of  separate 
and  parochial  activities  over  the  face  of  our  kingdom.  Still 
it  is  the  Spirit  of  God  that  is  the  prime  mover;  still  the  help- 
lessness of  man  and  the  need  of  prayer  must  ever  obtrude 
themselves  on  the  notice  of  Him  that  looks  to  the  whole  ques- 
tion, and  attentively  regards  all  the  parts  and  all  the  bear- 


SIR  ANDREW  AGNEW,  BART. 


ings  of  it.  Without  the  descent  of  hving  water  from  above, 
the  local  system  does  not  more  for  a  country  than  the  bfsi  ap- 
paratus  of  aqueducts  for  irrigation  could  fcrlih/.u  it  wilhout 
rain — as  little  for  it  as  the  agricultural  processes  of  Egypt 
could  avail  without  the  annual  overiiow  of  their  great  river. 
I  am  yours,  kc,  Thomas  Chalmer.s. 

No.  CCLXXXIII.— To  Sir  Andrew  Agnew,  Bart. 

LocHKYAN,  31*^  jiuffuat,  1838. 

My  dear  Sir  Andrew — The  inclosed  paper  is  very  well 
drawn  up,  nor  am  I  aware  of  any  amendment  that  can  be 
made  upon  it.  Allow  me,  however,  earnestly  to  suggest  that, 
before  the  managers  of  the  new  church  at  Leswalt  attempt 
distant  places,  they  would  make  a  thorough  operation  «m  tlu-ir 
own  neighborhood.  It  is  not,  as  you  well  know,  large  indi- 
vidual subscriptions  that  I  am  contending  for,  but  a  general 
and  diffused  application,  by  which  all  who  are  willing  might 
have  the  opportunity  of  making  their  contributions,  however 
small.  I  would  fain  hope  that  if  this  were  done,  the  adequate 
funds  might  be  obtained  without  the  necessity  of  going  be- 
yond the  confines  of  Wigtonshire. 

The  reason  why  I  do  not  add  my  own  name  to  those  of  the 
gentlemen  who  have  subscribed  this  paper  is.  that  from  the 
position  I  hold  I  should  be  exposed  to  similar  applications 
from  all  quarters,  and  so  be  placed  under  the  necessity  either 
of  giving  my  name  in  every  instance,  or  of  giving  oHenst.'  by 
refusing  it  in  those  cases  where  I  judge  it  were  better  that 
the  most  strenuous  attempts  were  made  to  realize  the  whole 
sum  necessary  in  home  produce  rather  than  foreign  aid. 

Before  I  close,  I  can  not  adequately  express  the  deep  sense 
I  have  of  your  great  kindness  and  liberality  to  myself  It  i« 
a  great  contribution  you  have  made  to  our  cause,  that  from 
the  moment  of  my  touching  Stranraer  to  the  moment  of  my 
leaving  it,  you  have  franked  and  taken  charge  of  the  whole 
intermediate  locomotion,  comprising  two  Prci.l)ytene»  •    Aft- 

#  -  Saturday,  August  1  SM-Lelt  Fairley  at  t.n     Luc.kcJ  w.tb  grml 


334  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

er  you  had  done  so  much,  I  did  not  object  to  your  settling 
with  the  driver  at  Glenluce,  so  as  that  there  might  be  no  ex- 
interest  to  the  coast  all  the  way  from  Girvan  to  Lochryan  ;  it  being 
quite  new  to  me,  and  maintaining  throughout  the  character  of  a  sim- 
ple, remote,  and  solitary  glen.  Got  to  Stranraer  about  nine.  The  town 
looked  impressive  as  we  approached  it — it  forming  a  crescent,  and  its 
twinklinor  lights  spread  before  us  in  this  form.  Sir  Andrew  Agnew 
waiting  our  arrival.  He  introduced  us  to  Colonel  M^Dowal ;  and  took 
us  (me  and  Mr.  Collins)  in  his  carriage  to  Lochnaw  Castle,  six  miles  off. 

"  Tuesday^  21st. — Went  to  the  Presbytery  at  twelve.  Spoke  at  great 
length  on  Church  Extension  in  a  meeting-house,  to  an  audience  more 
limited  than  it  would  have  been  had  not  the  public  misunderstood  the 
intimations.  Made  the  acquaintance  of  Mr.  Symington,  Cameronian 
minister  here,  for  whom  I  have  great  value. 

'•  Wednesday,  22d. — The  work  of  this  day  has  been  two-fold;  first, 
the  forming  a  Parish  Association  for  Leswalt,  which  was  done  in  Sir 
Andrew's  house — the  parish  minister,  and  several  elders,  farmers,  and 
others,  having  met  and  adopted  our  regulations.  Went  at  two,  in  Sir 
Andrew's  carriage,  to  Portpatrick,  where  I  held  another  meeting  with 
the  minister  in  his  manse,  and  elders,  and  farmers,  and  others ;  and 
where  also  Colonel  Hunter  Blair,  Colonel  Vans  Agnew,  Mr.  Blair,  M.P., 
and  Captain  Little  attended.  Had  a  good  deal  of  talk  here  ;  and  after 
having  settled  this  business,  went  forth  to  the  harbor,  and  enjoyed  ex- 
ceedingly the  bold,  rocky  beach.  Then  scrambled  along  the  beach  in 
another  direction  from  Dunskey  Castle.  Got  at  length  into  a  den  beau- 
tifully wooded,  and  watered  with  a  noble  fall,  which  conducted  us  to 
Dunskey  House,  belonging  to  Colonel  Hunter  Blair,  who  had  many 
visitors. 

"  Thursday,  23d. — I  rose  about  seven.  Walked  out  to  a  beautiful 
den,  which  terminates  in  the  beach.  Then  laved  my  hands  in  the  Irish 
Sea,  and  returned  again  through  the  den,  beautifully  wooded,  and  fur- 
nished with  chairs  and  wooden  bridges  ;  and  I  thought  that  had  Helen 
and  Fanny  been  with  me,  how  objectively  they  would  have  gazed  at 
the  rushing  cascade,  and  the  airy  seats  placed  at  different  points  for  the 
best  views.  Spoke  to  a  crowded  audience  in  Mr,  Symington's  church 
on  Church  Extension,  to  my  o^^ti  and  the  people's  satisfaction.  Went 
off  to  Lochnaw  Castle. 

"  Friday,  2Mh. — Sir  Andrew's  carriage  took  us  to  a  most  beautiful 
bathing- cottage  on  the  sea-side,  where  the  family  reside  often  for  many 
weeks  together.  It  is  situated  most  romantically  in  a  secluded  recess 
on  the  beach,  with  braes,  and  rocks,  and  famous  scrambling  heights  on 
each  side  of  it,  and  before  it  the  sea,  with  an  expanse  of  fine  yellow 
sand  at  low  water.  Mrs.  Chalmers  and  I  are  invited  to  take  up  our 
residence  there,  cnfamilh,  for  as  many  weeks  in  summer  as  we  like  ; 


SIR  ANDREW  AGNEW,  BART. 


ception  to  the  munificence  of  such  a  help  to  me  through  to. 

large  a  tract  of  country  ;  but  after  you  hud  done  so  much. 

and  well  do  I  know  how  the  explorations,  and  the  olimliin<:!<,  iind  the 
shell-gatherings,  and  the  hathinizs,  would  be  enjoyed  by  Helen  and  Fan- 
ny in  this  deep  and  peaceful  solitude. 

"  Sunday,  26th. — Another  day  of  complete  rest.  Enjoyed  the  (piiet- 
ness  of  the  sacred  Sabbath  morn.  Had  family  worship  and  oxpositicm 
in  the  evening  ;  anil  as  Sir  Andrew  and  I  were  next  day  to  take  leave 
early,  I  bade  a  trrateful  and  afiectionatc  adieu  to  the  rest  of  the  family. 

^'Monday.  21th. — Instead  of  takinfj  the  ilirect  road  t«>  \Ni;,'i(in.  Sir 
Andrew  was  kind  enoujL^h  to  take  me  round  by  the  cMnsi,  lor  the  -ake 
of  its  interesting  scenery.  A  plain,  pristine,  ru.ss«'t-I(K»kiiijj  counirv, 
poor  in  produce,  but  not  of  unpleasino^  aspect,  with  rock*  prerinjj  forth 
of  the  verdure  every  where,  and  a  beach  which  presents  a  numbrr 
of  fantastic  and  impressive  forms.  Had  the  kindest  possible  reception 
from  Colonel  Vans  Agnew. 

"  Tuesday,  28th. — A  general  movement  to  Wigton,  four  miles  off.  at 
one.  Several  carriages  put  into  requisition.  We  landed  at  Mr. 
Youngs,  the  clergyman  of  Wigton — a  most  beautiful  village,  Ixuh  in 
respect  of  its  site  and  its  interior,  placed  on  a  gentle  eminence,  where 
it  commands  a  noble  view  of  Wigton  Bay.  The  church  (juitc  full,  as 
indeed  I  had  been  led  to  expect  from  seeinc;  at  least  twenty  <«arriapcs 
on  the  street  when  we  entered  the  town.  I  delivered  my  address  from 
the  precentor's  desk;  and  it  went  oil" apparently  with  the  entire  and 
cordial  approbation  of  the  audience.  Sir  Andrew  to<»k  me  out  in  his 
carriage  to  Cumloden.  not  the  seat  but  the  cottajre  of  Lord  Ctalloway. 
It  was\  ride  in  the  dark  of  about  nine  miles,  thnMijrh.  1  wn.««  tol.l.  a  very 
beautiful  countr}',  chieHy  along  the  Cree.  Pas.v<l  thnniph  Newton 
Stewart,  and  about  a  mile  on  reached  C'umltHlen,  where  Lord  and  La«iy 
Galloway  (their  visitors  having  all  retired  to  bed)  gave  us  a  very  flat- 
tering reception. 

'•  Wednesday,  29th. — Cumloden  is  a  most  enchanting  pUce  ;  a  larpe 
cottage  spread  over  a  great  extent  of  floor,  with  but  one  pood  *fory  of 
nume'rous  apartments  and  attics  above  it.  A  hitrhly-decorate.l  lawn 
of  shrubbery  and  clumps  of  trees,  and  at  one  place  a  bu!»hy  llower-car- 
den;  a  brawling  river,  tributary  to  the  Oec,  ..f  rapid  desrent.  and 
which  a  shower  swells  into  a  torrent;  a  noble  Alpine  Imrkcrt.und  of 
northern  hills,  on  the  confined  of  Galloway  and  A>-T*h.rc,  with  iH-nntifal 
glimpses  of  nearer  objects,  as  the  tower  of  Miniuafl"  Chnr.h.  he. 
Walked  with  Sir  Andrew  to  Minitraff.  about  a  mde  ..ff  Kvrrr  «trp 
disclosed  new  charms  of  land.^^cape.  .Minitrair  i'-elf  hw  «  m«n^  Mkr 
a  rectory,  with  a  most  jjentleman-like  approach  ;  and  the  ^  .. 
front  door,  coraprehendinor  the  banks  of  the  w.x>do.l  (  rro 
and  before  it  its  dark,  mow-colored  water.,  i«  or.*  «« <^''  " 


336  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

you  should  have  done  no  more  ;  and,  allow  me  to  say,  it  was 
ultra,  or  beyond  all  that  ought  to  have  been  done,  that  you 

I  ever  saw.  Walked  to  the  church,  at  whose  door  there  were  a  num- 
ber of  carriages.  A  large  meeting  of  people  whom  I  addressed  on 
Church  Extension.  Mr.  Blair  took  me  in  his  carriage  to  Penningham 
House,  his  mansion. 

"  Thursday,  August  30th. — Went  in  cavalcade,  with  a  riding  horse 
and  two  open  carriages,  six  miles  up  the  Cree,  to  a  small  church  now 
building  for  a  simple  and  upland  population.  Delighted  with  the  scen- 
ery on  the  banks  of  this  river,  more  especially  when  the  Minwick  en- 
ters it,  which  one  might  trace  upward  through  a  most  romantic  and  re- 
mote glen,  but  at  the  entry  of  which  into  the  Cree,  also,  we  are  pre- 
sented with  a  truly  interesting  panorama  of  level  cultivation,  skirted 
by  rocky  eminences,  and  expanding  upward  into  ascents  of  a  bolder 
character,  which  terminate  at  length  in  a  noble  Alpine  boundary  pro- 
jected upon  the  sky.  After  our  upland  survey  of  this  new  parochial 
locality,  with  its  rising  church  and  now  completed  school,  was  driven 
forward  by  Mr.  Gordon  to  Newton  Stewart,  and  then  took  leave  of  my 
numerous  conductors.  The  views  over  the  Cree  from  this  to  the  par- 
ish of  Minigaff  are  truly  glorious.  Went  alone  into  Sir  Andrew's  car- 
riage. Rode  sixteen  miles  in  it  by  myself  over  a  plain,  pristine,  peat 
country,  not  without  its  charms,  however,  and  which  kept  my  interest 
perpetually  alive,  from  my  having  with  me  a  map  of  Wigtonshire,  by 
which  I  could  verify  the  hills,  rivers,  and  places.  Passed  the  church 
of  Kirkcowan  half  a  mile  on  my  left.  Got  to  Glenluce  about  three. 
Sir  Andrew  joined  me  there,  and  we  got  on  six  miles  farther  to  Dun- 
ragget,  the  seat  of  Sir  James  Hay.  The  Misses  Hay,  and  particularly 
Susan,  greatly  interested  in  my  movement  here.  It  seems  two  Glas- 
gow voluntaries — the  Rev.  Messrs.  King  and  Anderson — are  now  hang- 
ing upon  ray  rear,  and  held  a  meeting  after  me  at  Strani-aer,  which  has 
turned  out  a  failure.  They  tried  to  evade  the  hissing  by  stating  that 
they  would  understand  every  hiss  to  be  directed  against  the  doctrine 
which  they  were  opposing  ;  and  then  Mr.  Anderson  fell  foul  of  me, 
and  they,  unmindful  of  his  interpretation,  began  lustily  to  hiss ;  he,  as 
unmindful  of  his  own  position,  felt  greatly  annoyed,  saying,  What,  will 
you  hiss  the  great  Dr.  Chalmers  ?  Left  Dunragget  about  seven.  Land- 
ed in  Mr.  Symington's,  where  I  took  leave  of  Sir  Andrew,  and  who  un- 
dertook to  order  a  post-chaise  for  me  to  Cairnryan,  the  place  of  General 
Sir  Alexander  Wallace,  whither  Mr.  Symington  and  I  went,  and  where 
we  landed  about  ten,  and  got  a  warm  welcome,  a  warm  room,  and  warm 
and  comfortable  bed. 

"  Friday,  August  31  st. — Lady  Wallace  and  Sir  Alexander  both  very 
cordial.  Took  leave  at  ten,  greatly  rested  and  refreshed  by  this  quiet 
family  visit.     Got  into  the  mail  for  Ayr.     Entered  inside ;  but  was  so 


MR.  THOMAS  WALKER.  887 


should  propose  to  bear  any  part  of  my  expenses  after  leavin|f 
Stranraer.  When  Mr.  Symington  told  me  that  you  insisit-d 
on  settling  for  the  chaise -hire  to  Cairuryan,  I  felt  doubly 
ashamed  of  all  your  goodness  to  me,  though  douhly  grateful 
for  your  kind  feelings  both  to  myself  and  to  the  great  object 
of  Church  Extension  in  Scotland. 

Will  you  forgive  me  if  1  entreat  that  you  will  not  exceed 
in  your  public  liberalities,  for  my  impression  is,  and  I  state  it 
frankly,  that  your  disposition  is  to  encroach  on  the  duty  which 
a  man  owes  to  those  of  his  own  household.  Do  indulge  mo 
in  the  freedom  I  use.  You  have  done  more  for  our  cause 
by  your  testimony  and  personal  countenance  than  you  could 
have  done  by  any  pecuniary  contribution.  It  is  to  the  mul- 
titude of  subscribers,  and  not  to  the  enlargement  of  subscrip- 
tions, that  I  look  for  the  increase  of  our  means. 

With  best  regards  to  Lady  and  Miss  Harriet  Agnow,  and  to 
one  and  all  of  your  dear  family,  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  dear 
Sir  Andrew,  yours  most  gratefully, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCLXXXIV.— To  Mr.  Thomas  Walker,  Flesher, 
Galashiels. 

BuRN-nsLANp,  lit  Juiy,  1840. 
My  dear  Sir — I  received  your  letter  of  the  2'Jd,  and  read 
it  with  the  greatest  interest — admiring  as  I  do  greatly  both 
the  sentiments  which  it  expresses  and  the  spirit  which  it 
breathes.  The  excellence  of  that  composition,  as  well  &b  the 
account  I  have  received  of  you  from  your  worthy  and  eslocia- 
ed  clergyman  Mr.Veitch,  has  encouraged  me  to  address  yoU 
as  an  acquaintance  and  a  friend. 

'  Next  to  the  approbation  of  my  own  conscience  do  I  value 
such  a  testimony  as  yours,  and  more  especially  as  corning  from 
one  in  your  class  of  society  ;  and  I  feel  it  to  l>e  an  ample  com- 

delicrhted  with  the  srcncrv.  that  I  soon  got  o.if.H<lr.  Vx'a.hni  Ayr  at 
ten}'— Extracted  from  Dr.  Chalmers's  JournaJ.-^Sco  Meraoim,  vol.  ir. 
p.  166. 

V.  P 


338  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


pensation  for  all  the  discouragements  which  I  have  experi- 
enced in  my  attempts  to  extend  the  means  of  a  pure  Christian 
education  for  the  people  of  our  land. 

I  can  truly  say,  that  after  the  salvation  of  the  working 
classes  there  is  no  object  which  I  have  more  at  heart  than 
their  elevation  in  the  scale  of  comfort — only  to  be  attained,  I 
think,  however,  through  the  medium  of  their  own  worth  and 
their  own  intelligence.  And  I  am  therefore  all  the  more 
cheered  and  gratified  in  every  new  instance  I  meet  with  of 
their  high  capabilities  for  mental  and  moral  improvement.  I 
do  hope  that  the  influence  of  your  example  and  your  exer- 
tions will  tell  powerfully  in  the  diffusion  of  a  spirit  and  prin- 
ciples like  your  own  throughout  the  mass  of  our  population. 

I  spend  the  winter  months  in  Edinburgh.  Should  you  ever 
visit  the  capital  at  that  season,  I  beg  you  will  call  on  me  and 
let  me  make  your  personal  acquaintance.  With  many  thanks 
for  your  kind  and  encouraging  communication,  I  am,  my  dear 
sir,  yours  very  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCLXXXV.— To  Rev.  Dr.  Strachan,  Bishop  of  To- 
ronto. 

Burntisland,  1st  May,  1841. 

My  dear  Sir — I  received  your  letter  a  few  days  ago,  and 
have  read  it  with  the  greatest  interest.  I  spent  ten  days 
lately  with  Professor  Duncan,  and  both  he  and  I  put  it  down 
to  the  account  of  your  honest,  we  have  the  vanity  to  think, 
your  intense,  and  cordial  friendship  for  us  that  you  have  given 
us  BO  kind  and  affectionate  an  invitation.  Though  older,  he 
is  stronger  and  healthier  than  I  ;  and  I  must  acknowledge 
that,  apart  from  engagements  altogether,  I  should,  on  the 
consciousness  of  my  infirm  and  irregular  health  alone,  shrink 
from  a  voyage  and  then  a  journey  of  such  magnitude.  I  fear 
that  with  me  it  must  ever  remain  a  speculation  ;  but  I  am 
not  the  less  grateful  on  that  account  for  the  effusion  of  so 
much  regard  to  one  of  your  earliest  companions. 

Bepiclcs  the  great  kindness  of  your  letter,  I  was  much  in- 


REV.  DR.  STRACHAN. 


terested  by  its  subject-matter.  I  had  before  read  your  letter 
in  the  Times,  and  think  that  you  have  made  out  a  complete 
case.  I  can  also  well  beHeve  that  no  injustice  apaiusl  you, 
either  in  the  public  papers  or  by  public  men,  will  ever  coun- 
tervail the  substantial  good-will  which  your  official  and  per- 
sonal attentions  are  sure  to  gain  from  all  the  classt-s  of  your 
extensive  diocese  among  whom  you  expatiate.  It  is  here 
that  the  real  strength  of  clergymen  lies,  and  I  have  no  doubt 
that  the  knowledge  and  experience  of  this  go  far  to  explain 
the  passionate  hostility  felt  toward  every  conscientious  and 
well-principled  ecclesiastic  on  the  part  of  Chartibt.s,  Radicals, 
and  all  those  have  leagued  themselves  against  social  order 
and  the  stability  of  our  existing  institutions. 

I  rejoice  in  your  willingness  to  intrust  with  so  much  power 
every  man  above  twenty-one,  "  provided  his  religious  princi- 
ples are  sound,  and  that  he  felt  it  matter  of  conscience  to 
exercise  it  aright.  Give  a  man  a  strong  feeling  of  moral  re- 
sponsibility, &c."  Your  strictures  on  De  Tocqueville  are  ad- 
mirably just,  in  that  he  would  confide  power  to  a  peoj)le  mere- 
ly on  the  score  of  their  secular  education.  But,  on  the  other 
hand,  our  High-Church  conservatives  are  as  wide  of  the  truth 
as  he  who  apprehends  danger  in  confiding  any  ecclesiastical 
franchise  to  a  people  whatever  their  religious  knowleJpr  and 
character  might  be,  and  though  they  should  pass  through  the 
ordeal  of  the  most  strict  and  conscientious  exammation  pre- 
vious to  their  entry  on  the  roll  of  our  cominuuicanis  in  other 
words,  nothing  can  be  more  blind  or  ignorant  than  the  preju- 
dice of  those  hard  and  impracticable  Tories  among  us  who 
spy  democracy  in  the  present  doings  of  our  Kirk — the  moit 
distinguished  for  loyalty  and  love  of  order  of  any  corporation 
in  the  known  world. 

We  are  steering  on  the  middle  path  between  Puwyi«ro  on 
the  one  hand  and  Voluntaryism  on  the  otlu-r.  I  *io  not  My 
that  we  will  succeed,  but  it  is  my  firm  belief  thai  if  we  do 
not  National  Establishments  of  Christianity  will  and  ought 
to  be  put  down,  not  for  a  perpetuity,  but  till  that  pcnod  when 


340  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

the  kingdoms  of  the  earth  shall  become  the  kingdoms  of  our 
Lord  and  Savior  Jesus  Christ. 

Give  my  best  regards  to  your  son  whom  I  met  at  Peni- 
cuick,  and  of  whom  1  entertain  a  very  pleasant  recollection. 
I  am,  my  very  dear  sir,  yours  most  cordially, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

What  weighs  with  Mr.  Duncan  against  the  proposed  voy- 
age is  the  apprehended  loss  of  the  "President."  T.  C. 

No.  CCLXXXVI.— To  Professor  Duncan. 

Edinburgh,  29th  December^  1842. 

My  very  dear  Sir — I  am  just  now,  at  holiday  time,  trying 
to  work  my  way  through  unanswered  letters,  among  which  I 
find  two  bearing  the  subscription  of  your  much-loved  name — 
the  one  dated  the  12th  of  November,  the  other,  ingrate  that 
I  am,  the  12th  of  October. 

On  the  subject  of  the  first  I  share  in  the  horror  you  ex- 
press at  the  cruelty  of  slaughtering  animals  for  amusement. 
I  think  that  t'heir  being  even  slaughtered  for  food  is  one  of 
the  greatest  enigmas  of  our  present  mysterious  world.  The 
day  is  coming,  however,  when  "  the  mystery  of  God  will  be 
finished"  (Rev.,  x,),  and  this,  with  all  other  difficulties,  will 
be  solved.  Ever  believe  me,  my  dear  sir,  yours  very  afTec- 
tionately  and  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCLXXXVIL— To  Professor  Duncan. 

MoRNiNGSiDE,  1th  September,  1844. 
My  dear  Sir — Can  you  tell  me  of  any  author  who  treats 
of  the  properties  and  progression  of  prime  numbers  ?  The 
following  is  a  curious  order,  observed  for  some  time,  in  th6 
proportion  which  the  composite  numbers  bear  to  all  others, 
and  from  which  I  had  hoped  that  the  absolute  proportions  of 
the  composited  to  the  primes  throughout  the  whole  infinity 
of  numbers  might  have  been  ascertained  within  an  indefin- 
itely near  approximation  ; 


TO  PROFESSOR  DUNCAN.  341 


The  numbers  in  which  2  docs  not  enter  as  an  aliquot  part 
are  to  number  at  large  as  1  to  2,  or  A^. 

The  numbers  in  which  2  and  3  do  not  enter  as  aliquot 
parts  are  as  1  to  3,  or  -|. 

The  numbers  in  which  2,  3, and  5  do  not  enter,  as  4  to  l.O, 

or  rs- 

The  numbers  in  which  2,  3,  5,  7  do  not  enter,  as  8  to  35, 
or^. 

The  numbers  in  which  2,  3,  5,  7,  11  do  not  enter,  as  IG  to 
77,  or  ^. 

See  the  promise,  then,  I  had  on  entoriiif;  tliis  investigation, 
that,  if  you  take  the  primes  in  order,  1,  2,  3,  5,  7,  1 1 ,  Ace,  you 
would  arrive  at  the  general  proportion  that  the  comjiosites 
formed  of  them  successively  would  so  run  as  to  leave  remain- 
ders, which  bore  to  all  numbers  proportions  expressed  by  frac- 
tions, whose  numerators  each  double  its  predecessor,  as  2.  4, 
8,  16,  &c.,  and  whose  denominators  were  the  products  of  the 
two  last  prime  numbers  that  had  been  taken  up  in  the  prog- 
ress of  the  investigation,  as  2=1x2,  6  =  2x3,  15=33x5, 
35  =  5x7,  and  77  =  11x7.  Judge  of  my  disappointment, 
then,  when  proceeding  ta  the  next  prime  number,  13,  and  ex- 
pecting the  result,  ^-^.  I  found  it  very  ditficult,  and  thus 
has  my  goodly  progression  been  most  cruflly  put  an  end  to. 
Yours  very  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCLXXXVIII.— To  rROFESSOR  Duncan. 

Edinburgh.  lAth  Dtcember,  1845. 
My  dear  Sir— I  should  not  have  written  you  on  J:>abbath, 
but  for  the  subject  on  which  I  mean  to  address  you,  and  to 
which  I  shall  confine  myself.  I  have  long  had  the  utmost 
regard  for  you.  There  is  not  a  human  being  whom,  with- 
out the  circle  of  my  relationship,  I  like  nearly  so  well.  But. 
though  affectionate  toward  you,  I  have  not  been  faithful. 
Consider  how  soon  both  you  and  I  will  be  mouldering  in  our 
coffins.  Heaven  grant  that  we  may  l>oth  share  in  a  blessed 
resurrection,  through  our  common  interest  in  Him  who  hath 


342  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

said,  "  I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  life,"  &c.     Ever  believe 
me,  my  dear  sir,  yours  very  affectionately  and  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCLXXXIX.— To  Professor  Duncan. 

MoRNiNGSiDE,  13th  September,  1846. 

My  dear  Sir — It  has  come  at  last.  This  death  falls  upon 
your  heart  as  if  it  were  a  new  lesson  which  you  had  still  to 
learn.  Oh,  that  this  sorrow  of  nature  were  ripened  and  trans- 
formed by  divine  grace  into  that  godly  sorrow  which  worketh 
repentance  unto  salvation  never  to  be  repented  of.  Eternal 
life  is  not  a  thing  to  be  got  any  how.  There  is  a  precise,  def- 
inite, and,  let  me  add,  only  and  exclusive  way  laid  down  for 
the  attainment  of  it — a  way  authoritatively  pointed  out  and 
prescribed  by  Heaven.  He  who  hath  the  Son  hath  life;  he 
who  hath  not  the  Son  hath  not  life.  Christ  says  of  Himself, 
"  I  am  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life — by  me,  if  any  man 
enter  in,  he  shall  be  saved  ;"  and,  "  No  man  cometh  unto  the 
Father  but  by  the  Son."  Let  us  not  quarrel  with  this  way, 
more  especially  as  it  is  open  to  all  of  us  :  "  Whosoever  cometh 
unto  me  shall  not  be  cast  out ;"  "  Believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  and  you  shall  be  saved  "  It  is  for  God,  the  offended 
party,  and  not  for  us,  the  offenders,  to  dictate  the  terms  and 
the  treaty  of  reconciliation.  Heaven  grant  that  you  may  be 
led  henceforth  to  bestow  an  earnest  heed  on  the  word  of  His 
testimony  till  the  day  dawn  and  the  day-star  arise  in  your 
heart.  Read  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  ;  and  if  you  further- 
more read  my  printed  Lectures  upon  them,  you  will  have  at 
least  my  views  on  the  method  and  way  of  salvation  ground- 
ed on  my  understanding  of  this  portion  of  the  Divine  record. 
May  our  Father  in  heaven  bless  this  exercise  to  your  soui, 
and  so  open  your  understanding  to  understand  His  Scriptures 
that  you  shall  become  thereby  wise  unto  salvation. 

It  is  to  me  a  striking  coincidence  that,  on  the  day  before  I 
received  the  intimation  of  your  brother's  death,  I  attended  the 


DR.  EASTON.  343 


funeral  of  Daniel  Ramsay,*  an  inmate  of  Gillespie's  HoBpital, 
in  my  vicinity  here.  I  go  to  perform  family  worship  there 
this  evening,  when  it  will  be  my  duty  to  ii'nprove  thia  event 
to  the  survivors — all  old  persons  above  sixty.  The  reminis- 
cences of  more  than  half  a  century  have  been  powerfully  and 
feelingly  awakened  by  both  these  events.  May  they  tell  elH- 
ciently  and  abidingly  upon  us  both  ;  lor  the  time  la  fast  ap- 
proaching when  we  too  shall  be  laid  on  the  bed  of  our  last 
agonies. 

I  shall  not  close  this  letter  till  1  have  returned  from  the 
evening  service  at  the  hospital. 

I  have  returned  from  my  household  sermon  to  the  old  people. 
The  text  was,  "  The  time  is  short  ;"  but,  in  addition  to  this 
argument,  I  endeavored  to  press  home  the  growing  callous- 
ness of  the  heart  to  the  invitations  of  the  Gospel  ;  yet,  never- 
theless, the  perfect  freeness  of  that  Gospel,  the  benefits  and 
immunities  of  which  are  theirs  if  they  will  ;  and  on  their  ac- 
ceptance of  these,  they  will  receive  a  new  heart  here,  and  the 
joys  of  an  unfading  inheritance  hereafter. 

It  is  my  earnest  prayer  that  God  may  thus  dispose  and  en- 
able you  to  receive  that  truth  which  is  to  be  found  in  His 
word,  and  which,  if  gifted  by  the  Spirit  to  understand  it.  you 
will  find  to  be  the  power  and  wisdom  of  God  tmto  salvation. 
Ever  believe  me,  my  dear  sir,  yours  most  afl'crtionatcly  and 
truly,  TnoMAS  Chalmers. 


rConv  of  Correspondence  between  the  Rev.  Dr.  Thoma*  Cbalroers, 
Professor  of  Moral  Philosophy.  St.  Andrews,  and  Dr.  Thoma.  Ka^ton, 
minister  of  Kirriemuir,  in  reference  to  the  paupcri.^m  of  that  par.»h  | 

No.  CCXC— Dr.  Ea.-^ton  to  Dr.  Chalmers. 

KiRRiEMi  iR,  26(A  January,  1827- 
Rev.  Sir— My  parishioner,  Mr  James  Aitken  Wylie.t  bar- 


344  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

ing  incidentally  mentioned  that  you  had  heen  pleased  to 
speak  kindly  in  your  class  of  my  statements  relative  to  the 
pauperism  of  Kirriemuir,  I  happened  to  say  to  him  that  I 
was  extremely  desirous  to  obtain  your  opinion  on  a  question 
of  importance  connected  with  the  subject  of  pauperism.  I 
then  stated  to  him  the  question  to  which  I  referred  ;  and  hav- 
ing the  utmost  confidence  to  place  in  the  prudence  and  dis- 
cretion of  the  young  man,  whom  I  have  known  from  his  child- 
hood, I  took  the  liberty  of  stating  to  him  that,  if  a  suitable 
opportunity  presented  itself,  he  would  oblige  me  by  laying  it 
before  you.  His  answer,  written  on  his  return  to  St.  An- 
drews, has  been  received,  in  which  he  states  your  willingness 
to  hear  from  me  on  the  subject. 

The  case  is  this  :  It  has  been  my  object  to  meet  the  pau- 
perism of  this  large  and  populous  parish  chiefly  by  collections 
made  by  my  congregation  in  the  church  ;  and  hitherto  they 
have  been  such  as  nearly  to  answer  the  demands  made  on 
us.  Now  my  difliculty  is  this.  The  population  of  the  parish 
is  rapidly  increasing,  and  it  may  be  expected  that  pauperism 
will  increase  in  a  like  ratio  ;  but  as  the  church  accommo- 
dates a  part  only  of  the  population,  being  seated  for  1240, 
there  is  no  hope  that  the  collections  of  my  church  will  be  suf-. 
ficient  long  to  meet  the  pauperism,  that  I  can  not  but  fore- 
see is  coming  upon  us.  In  point  of  fact,  the  collections  are 
at  present,  as  I  ever  expect  them  to  be,  averaging  from  £135 
to  £140  per  annum,  in  half-pence  and  penny  pieces.  How, 
then,  am  I  to  meet  the  pauperism  which  must  necessarily 
arise  from  an  increased  population  ?  We  may  expect  more 
cases  of  insanity,  more  widows  and  orphans. 

Perhaps  one  or  other  of  three  schemes  may  be  adopted. 
The  first  is,  let  the  parish  be  divided  into  sections,  and  let 
every  district  provide  for  its  own  poor.  I  fear  we  are  not  all 
Christian  enough  to  trust  to  this  scheme.  There  are  also 
more  poor  in  one  district  than  in  another.  Several  of  our 
paupers  reside  in  Dundee,  and  in  other  towns  and  parishes. 

The  second  is,  let  the  people  add  to  the  amount  of  their 


DR.  EASTON.  945 


collections.  If  every  individual  would  contribute  a  penny 
weekly  in  place  of  a  half-penny,  the  amount  would  be  d(.ub. 
led.  But  the  far  greater  part  of  my  numerous  conpn-paiM.n 
is  comparatively  in  moderate  circumstances,  the  heritors  and 
most  of  the  wealthiest  of  the  people  beinpr  Kpiscopalians. 

The  third  is,  let  the  church  be  enlarprd,  or  a  rhajud  ».f  eaw 
be  erected.  I  have  liad  the  church  examined  by  an  arcbitect 
of  eminence,  but  his  opinion  is,  that  the  roof  is  of  a  ron»truc- 
tion  so  peculiar  that  it  can  not  be  interfered  with.  A  chapel 
of  ease  would  be  an  efl'ectual  remedy  ;  but  though  I  have 
urged  the  erection  of  one,  I  have  as  yet  failed  in  persuading 
the  people  to  undertake  it.  I  am  afraid,  theref»)re,  that  un- 
less you  can  suggest  a  way  of  escape,  we  must  at  lahl  yield 
to  necessity,  and  submit  to  assessments ;  the  many  evils  of 
which  have  often  been  shown,  but  by  none  so  well  as  your- 
self.    I  ever  am,  reverend  sir,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

Thomas  Ea.ston. 

No.  CCXCI. — Dr.  Chalmers  to  Dr.  Easton. 

St.  Andrews,  6th  Frbrvary.  1827. 
My  dear  Sir — I  should  have  replied  to  your  interesting 
letter  sooner.  I  fear  you  will  think  rny  advice  somewhat  too 
general,  though  I  deem  it  founded  on  an  experience  that  is 
quite  universal,  and  which  I  feel  confident  that  you  also  will 
verify  should  you  attem])t  to  enlarge  your  fund  by  as»eK*ment. 
The  experience  is  this,  that  you  really  do  not,  by  an  a«*e»»- 
ment,  make  your  escape  from  the  ditficulties  which  brinp  it 
on.  You  do  not  even  lighten  these  difficulties.  You  may 
for  a  time ;  but  you  will  most  assuredly  aggravate  them  m 
the  long  run,  and  will  be  sure  to  find  that,  after  all.  you  have 
less  of  comfort,  and  more  of  clamor  and  complaint  amonfr 
your  population,  than  at  the  outset  of  your  compulsory  sys- 
tem. Admitting,  therefore,  fully  the  existence  of  iIh-  dijfi- 
culties  which  you  allege,  I  hold  it,  on  the  above  ron«idrrati..n 
alone,  to  be  your  true  wisdom,  rather  to  acquiesce  in  them. 
and  manage  with  your  humbler  means  as  you  ran.  than  by 
V  2 


346  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

a  forced  augmentation  of  these  means,  strengthen  those  evils, 
which  in  their  present  less  degree  you  will  find  to  be  far 
more  tolerable. 

You  state  the  small  accommodation  that  you  have  in 
church  for  your  populous  parish,  and  how  from  this  cause, 
what  would  have  gone  to  swell  your  collection,  now  goes  to 
the  collections  of  your  meeting-houses.  On  ecclesiastical  or 
Christian  grounds,  I  hold  it  very  desirable  that  your  accom- 
modation should  be  widened  ;  but  I  confess  that  I  should  not 
be  very  anxious  about  it  for  the  economic  object  of  a  more 
liberal  public  provision  for  the  poor.  My  own  confidence  all 
along  in  Glasgow  was  not  upon  means,  but  upon  manage- 
ment ;  and  not  so  much  on  the  positive  activity  and  strenu- 
ousness  of  that  management,  as  on  the  co-operation  of  men 
who  thought  with  myself,  that  the  best  way  of  disposing  of 
every  application  was  by  strict  investigation  into  all  the  re- 
sources of  the  applicant,  to  devolve  him  as  much  as  possible 
on  his  own  industry,  or  on  the  duty  of  his  relatives,  or  on  the 
sympathy  of  his  neighbors,  or,  lastly  (though  we  very  rarely, 
indeed,  had  recourse  to  such  an  expedient),  on  the  private  lib- 
eralities of  the  more  affluent.  But  we  were  quite  sure,  that 
just  in  proportion  to  the  regularity,  and  certainty,  and  large- 
ness of  our  sessional  ministrations,  would  all  these  better  se- 
curities for  the  relief  of  distress  be  slackened  in  the  parish ; 
and  so,  proclaiming  the  insignificance  of  all  that  we  could  do, 
we  devolved  the  burden  on  those  upon  whom  Nature  and 
Christianity  had  devolved  it  before  us,  and  felt  that  the  indef- 
initely nearer  we  came  to  a  cheap  and  moderate,  and  withal 
gratuitous  economy  on  the  part  of  the  pubHc  body,  the  more 
plentifully  did  relief  flow  from  all  those  private  sources  of  in- 
dustry and  sympathy  which  1  have  now  enumerated.  It 
was  not  my  presence  which  achieved  this.  The  thing  goes 
on  more  prosperously  since  I  left  it;  and  our  chapel  district, 
with  a  population  of  5000,  is  upheld  by  a  collection  of  less 
than  £100  in  the  year. 

Try  gradually,  and  get  hold  of  men  who  think  right  upon 


DR.  EASTON  ^^ 


this  object;  and  though  you  can  not  fill  the  pariih  all  at 
once  with  them,  give  each  a  district  as  he  casts  up.  and  let 
him  fully  understand  that  that  man  does  his  duly  best  to 
the  Session  who  gives  the  Session  least  to  do.  You  will  find 
that  each  new  elder  might  nearly  relieve  you  of  his  own  lj|^. 
trict  altogether. 

I  have  just  room  to  assure  you  that,  with  some  Tew  ino<ii. 
fications,  I  thought  exceedingly  well  of  your  book,  and  hailt-d 
it  as  an  accession  to  a  good  cause.  I  should  expre«  n\y  obli- 
gations for  your  very  handsome  treatment  of  myself  ni  that 
volume.     I  am,  my  dear  sir,  yours  most  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCXCII.— Dr.  Easton  to  Dr.  Chalmers 

Kirriemuir,  \6th  February,  1827. 

Rev.  Sir — Your  letter  of  the  6th  current  I  received  in 
course,  and  I  beg  leave  to  return  you  my  warmosl  thanks 
for  the  trouble  you  have  been  at  in  answering  my  letter  of 
26th  January  last.  You  have  indeed  bestowed  a  preat  deal 
of  attention  on  the  subject  to  which  it  refers.  What  you  nay 
is  exceedingly  satisfactory,  and  you  may  be  assiire<l  that  I 
am  grateful  lor  the  recommendations  you  suggest.  The  only 
addition,  practically  speaking,  which  I  would  venture  to  make 
— improvement  I  can  not  take  it  upon  me  to  rail  it — is  to 
classify  the  cases  of  poor,  and  if  we  are  driven  to  the  expe- 
dient, to  allow  the  heritors  to  provide  for  the  in«ano.  the  fatu- 
ous, the  blind,  and  to  relieve  the  others  from  the  church  col- 
lection. 

There  is  an  analogical  objection  that  may  U-  urged  ajfainil 
the  voluntary  relief  of  the  poor,  which  haa  often  occurred  to 
me,  and  to  which  1  am  desirous  to  draw  your  attention— 
one  which  I  have  never  seen  alluded  to  by  any  wie  It  it 
an  argument  iounded  on  what  you  yourself  have  Mid  rr*!-*  « 
iug  religious  education.  You  object  to  the  leaving  oJ  i- .  .■ 
ions  education  to  the  pnnciple  of  supply  and  .iemand.  be- 
cause, vou  say,  that,  owing  to  the  corruption  of  human   n«- 


348  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

ture,  men  are  naturally  averse  to  spiritual  truth,  and  it  is 
necessary,  therefore,  that,  by  means  of  endowment,  it  should 
be  brought  to  every  man's  door.  But  may  it  not  be  said 
that,  owing  to  the  same  cause,  men  do  not  naturally  love 
their  neighbors  as  they  ought,  and  therefore  it  is  necessary 
that  human  laws  should  compel  them  to  relieve  the  wants 
of  the  needy. 

As  I  am  aware  how  very  valuable  your  time  is,  I  do  not 
expect  an  answer  to  this  letter.  I  am,  dear  sir,  most  respect- 
fully yours,  Thomas  Easton 

No.  CCXCIII. — Dr.  Chalmers  to  Dr.  Easton. 

St.  Andrews,  22d  February,  1827. 

My  dear  Sir — Your  letter  is  too  interesting  not  to  be  re- 
plied to. 

You  are  quite  right  in  your  views  of  the  distinction  which 
obtains  between  the  cases  of  general  indigence  and  the  casea 
of  special  and  involuntary  distress,  such  as  lunacy,  dumbness, 
blindness,  &c.  There  would  not  be  the  mischief  in  assessing 
for  these  that  there  is  in  assessing  for  poverty  at  large,  be- 
cause such  an  assessment  would  not  multiply  its  objects,  and 
would  not  go  beyond  a  certain  definite  amount.  Still,  how- 
ever, it  is  greatly  better  not  to  have  even  this  more  innocent 
assessment,  for  the  one  is  extremely  apt  to  run  into  the  other, 
and  I  would  far  rather  struggle  to  overtake  the  more  special 
visitations  by  the  collections  and  purely  voluntary  subscrip- 
tions, than  attempt  aught  so  dangerous  as  the  admission  of 
the  compulsory  into  the  business  of  charity  in  any  of  its  parts. 

Your  analogical  argument  in  favor  of  assessments  is  ingen- 
ious, and  to  myself  new.  Yet,  on  a  narrower  view  of  the 
actual  similarities  and  dissimilarities  between  the  course  of 
instruction  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  course  of  the  ordinary 
relief  of  poverty  on  the  other,  I  am  persuaded  it  will  not  be 
found  tenable.  When  the  course  of  poverty  is  left  to  itself, 
then  in  proportion  to  the  aggravation  of  its  distress  is  the 
strength  and  efficiency  of  these  counteractives  by  which  it  is 


JOHN  HAMILT(^X,  Esg. 


mitigated,  if  not  done  away.  Men  are  more  goaded  to  in- 
dustry and  thrift,  their  relatives  more  excited  to  duly,  ihrir 
neighbors  more  awakened  to  compassion,  and  the  rich  mor« 
alive  to  voluntary  exertion.  When  the  course  of  ignoraiir.* 
is  left  to  itself,  then  in  proportion  to  the  aggravation  of  thnt 
ignorance  is  the  growing  apathy  to  the  evils  of  it,  and  !in 
apathy  which  extends  from  the  uneducated  man  to  his  neigh- 
bors, just  because  they  too  live  in  a  land  unblest  by  educa- 
tion. The  institutions  for  knowledge,  besides,  can  accom- 
plish their  object  purely  and  without  adulteration.  The  in- 
stitutions for  general  relief,  in  as  fur  as  thi-y  may  bo  ((aid  to 
accomplish  their  object  at  all,  do  so  at  th»'  fearful  expenno 
of  every  virtue  concerned  in  the  administration  of  chanty, 
putting  to  flight  the  gratitude  of  the  recipients,  and  the  sjion. 
taneous  generosity  of  the  dispensers.  I  am,  my  dear  sir, 
yours  very  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 


CORRESPONDENCE  ON  THE  CHURCH  QUESTION. 

No.  CCXCIV.— To  John  Hamilton,  E.-^q. 

Edinburgh,  I8th  February.  1840. 
My  dear  Sir — I  beg  that  you  will  tolerate  my  diwcrU- 
tions.  With  me  the  uppermost  object  is  to  secure  our  inde- 
pendence. Should  we  be  able  to  secure  it  with  a  l.-sx  woom- 
ure  of  Non-intrusion,  and  should  we  lose  it  becanw  of  our 
insisting  on  a  higher  measure,  we  shall  never  be  able  to  }i..ld 
up  ourlfaces  either  to  the  Church  or  to  the  country.  Wo 
shall  for  the  sake  of  the  gnat  have  been  giving  up  the  camel. 
I  am  not  insensible  to  the  importance,  in  one  way.  of  identi- 
fyintr  the  cause  of  the  Church  with  the  cause  of  the  people, 
I  feel  quite  assured  that  without  them  the  Conservative.  a« 
a  bodv,  would  have  been  on  the  side  of  the  authority  of  the 
Court' of  Session.  This  is  an  important  element  But  fh« 
other  IS  a  most  important  element  too.  There  ••  throu^j;- 
out  a  general  longu.g.  all  over  Scotland,  for  .  .et.lemcnt 
Even  our  lowest  measure  would  satisfy  a  large  mijonly.  both 


350  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

of  the  Church  and  of  the  middle  classes  in  the  country,  and 
would  be  followed  up,  I  trust,  by  such  a  pure  and  vigorous 
administration  on  the  part  of  our  ecclesiastical  courts,  as  to 
enthrone  our  beloved  Church  in  the  hearts  of  the  general 
population. 

You  know  the  aspect  under  which  I  view  an  act  of  Par- 
liament when  it  respects  the  powers  of  the  Church.  Its  ob- 
ject is  not  to  convey  the  powers,  but  to  convey  and  make 
sure  to  us  certain  temporal  benefits  in  the  exercise  of  those 
of  our  powers  which  it  defines.  If  it  do  not  comprehend  all 
the  powers,  if  at  a  certain  point  beneath,  its  temporalities  are 
made  to  cease,  this  is  not  an  interdict  on  the  powers  which 
are  beyond — no  limit  on  our  powers,  but  on  their  own  boun- 
ty. It  is  this  which  makes  my  conscience  appear  to  be  so 
elastic  on  the  subject  of  Non-intrusion  ;  while  on  the  subject 
of  independence,  I  am  not  sure  but  I  go  further  than  any  of 
you.  Paul  said,  on  justification  by  faith,  of  those  who  tried 
to  mitigate  the  doctrine  and  encroach  upon  it,  "  to  whom  I 
gave  place,  no,  not  for  an  hour."  I  say,  of  the  sHghtest  in- 
road on  the  spiritual  independence  of  the  Church,  "  to  which 
I  give  place,  no,  not  by  one  hair-breadth."  The  time  ap- 
pears fully  come  when,  by  next  General  Assembly,  every 
refractory  licentiate  should  be  deprived,  and  every  refractory 
minister  deposed. 

I  should  like  you  to  learn  Sir  Frederick  Pollock's  notion  of 
the  change  which  I  propose  in  the  style  of  ecclesiastical  leg- 
islation. It  would  clear  away  an  ambiguity  which  hangs 
over  the  connection  between  Church  and  State,  securing  for 
us  certain  benefits,  if  not  to  the  whole  extent  of  the  exercise 
of  these  powers,  at  least  up  to  a  certain  limit,  and  leaving  us 
at  entire  liberty  beyond  that  limit  to  do  all  which  is  compe- 
tent for  a  Church  of  Christ.  The  full  and  practical  observa- 
tion of  this  principle  would,  by  the  removal  of  a  flaw,  mightily 
strengthen  the  cause  of  religious  establishments. 

Speaking  of  Sir  Frederick,  I  value  his  co-operation  chiefly 
upon  one  account.     You  are  as  well  acquainted  with  styles 


JOHN  HAMILTON,  ESQ.  a61 


of  acts  of  Parliament  as  he  is ;  but  his  London  and  parlia 
meutary  experience  gives  him  the  advantage  of  knowing  wljal 
the  things  are,  and  what  the  forms  of  expression  which  would 
be  either  most  ofieusive  or  most  conciliator)'  to  the  English 
members.  If  a  man  of  tact,  he  will  even  know  how,  in  the 
wording  of  a  matter  that  would  revolt  them  if  seen  in  it« 
nakedness,  to  put  it  so  that  it  shall  escape  the  dislike  and  an- 
imadversion of  that  very  sensitive  and  high-minded  aRscmbly 
of  men,  who,  however  enlightened  within  their  own  provjncc, 
are  downright  ignoramuses  in  regard  to  Scottish  Presbyter)' — 
the  object  of  contempt  because  of  its  littleness  in  their  eyes, 
and  with  some  of  keen,  even  of  loatlung  antipathy.  b«can*c 
of  its  imagined  affinity  to  Puritanism — at  once  hated  n-lig- 
iously  from  the  natural  enmity  of  the  heart  to  the  truth,  and 
h&ted  politically  from  the  historical  recollections  of  the  »even- 
teenth  century,  which  saw  a  monarch  of  England  brought  to 
the  scaffold. 

It  is  right  to  say,  that  notwithstanding  the  tone  of  this  let- 
ter, and  though  I  have  written  Lord  .Vberdeen.  I  have  avoid- 
ed the  mention  of  a  single  word  which  can  in  the  least  letter, 
but  will  rather  facilitate  the  objects  of  the  dei)utalion.  I  ain. 
my  dear  sir,  yours  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCXCV.— To  Jon.N   Hamilton,  E-^ 

Edi.ndi  R(iii,  24/A3/ar.A.  I  *«  1 1 
My  dear  Sir— You  have  prescribed  for  me  a  truly  ardu- 
ous, and  I  fear  unprofitable  task,  and  the  reiteration  of  the 
veriest  truism,  and  that  lor  the  conviction  of  lumds  in  a  »«tal<? 
of  hopeless  prejudice,  and  obstinately  shut  against  lh<-  recep- 
tion of  it.  There  is  nothing  in  common  between  our  Scolliah 
evangelicals  and  our  modern  destructives  ;  they  are  under  lb« 
operation  not  only  of  diverse  but  of  antagonistic  inllueucrt 
The  Chartists  know  this  well,  and  they  every  where  oppo« 
us  They  are  acting  most  intelligently  f..r  the  pr.^H-ui.on  «f 
their  ulterior  objects,  and  in  this  re-^pect  furinu.,?  a  |.Tfrri 
contrast  to  the  Conservatives,  who  are  at  pre^^ot  ihe.r  cc^d 


352  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

jutors,  ill  pulling  at  the  same  rope  along  with  them.  My  be- 
lief is  that,  acting  together,  they  will  pull  down  our  Establish- 
ment ;  when  the  further  account  will  have  to  be  settled  be- 
tween themselves,  the  infatuated  aristocracy  will  find,  when 
too  late,  that  they  have  lent  a  hand  to  the  demolition  of  the 
only  breakwater  which  stood  between  the  anarchists, and  their 
own  order. 

These  are  plain  truths,  nevertheless  I  utter  them,  and  that 
for  the  purpose  of  your  making  them  as  widely  known  among 
your  Conservative  friends  as  possible,  believing  as  I  do  that 
nothing  but  plain  truths  at  this  time  of  day  will  save  us. 
They  are  now  lending  themselves  to  a  policy  which  must 
alienate  from  their  cause  the  flower  of  our  Scottish  clergy, 
and  in  which,  if  they  succeed,  they  will  deprive  of  all  its 
moral  weight  that  Church  whose  ministrations  were  never 
more  efficient  and  prosperous  than  at  this  moment,  and  which 
ministrations  have  ever  been  on  the  side  of  order,  and  con- 
tentment, and  loyalty,  and  the  other  peaceable  fruits  of  right- 
eousness. 

But  perhaps  it  will  avail  you  more  if,  instead  of  spending 
your  strength  on  such  a  demonstration,  you  make  it  palpable 
to  their  understandings  that  zealous  though  we  are  for  the 
principle  of  a  religious  Establishment,  there  are  many  hund- 
reds of  our  clergy,  and  these  the  best  and  most  influential 
among  them,  who  are  in  perfect  readiness  for  a  dissolution  of 
the  connection  between  church  and  state,  rather  than  have 
an  Establishment  on  the  terms  which  the  Court  of  Session 
would  now  prescribe  to  us. 

If  this  letter  be  short,  it  is  because  I  hold  the  warfare  of 
argument  to  be  now  over,  and  that  it  is  no  longer  a  contest 
of  opposite  reasonings,  but  of  opposite  wills  and  opposite  de- 
terminations. My  confidence  is  no  longer  in  man,  but  in 
the  righteousness  of  our  cause,  and  in  that,  when  forsaken 
by  all  our  earthly  friends,  there  is  a  God  above,  who,  after 
the  purposes  of  His  wise  and  holy  discipline  have  been  ful- 
filled, will  again  visit  in  mercy  the  Church  of  our  fathers. 


SIR  GEORGE  SINTLAIR 


"  We  are  perplexed,  but  not  in  despair."     I  am  your*  very 
*^"b^  Thomas  Ckai.mkhs 

No.   CCXCVT.— To  Sir  George  Sinclair. 

BURNTIRLAND,    1 8//j   Avevsl,    1841 

Dear  Sir  George — I  am  very  nnwilhnp  to  bflievc  that 
we  might  not  obtain  the  wished-for  consnmnialion  by  the 
passing  of  the  Duke  of  Argyle's  bill,  without  inr-jirring  the 
delay  necessarily  implied  in  the  ajipointinent  of  a  Commi»- 
sion  of  Inquiry. 

At  all  events,  I  think  the  only  footing  on  which  the  Church 
can  come  to  an  agreement  with  the  state  in  regard  to  your 
proposed  suspension  of  all  legal  actions  by  both  parties,  is,  to 
express  her  willingness  that,  whatever  the  civil  ponsequences 
might  be  which  follow  in  the  train  of  her  decisions  on  the 
conduct  of  any  of  her  office-bearers,  and  might  in  the  ordinary 
course  of  law  prejudicially  alieet  their  interests — that  lhc«e 
civil  consequences  may,  by  an  extraordinarj'  act  of  the  Leg- 
islature, be  remitted  in  favor  of  those  who  should  otherwise 
have  suffered  from  them.  The  Church,  for  example,  could 
bear  to  have  their  temporalities  made  over  for  life  to  the 
Strathbogie  ministers,  and  the  temporalities  of  the  respective 
parishes  to  which  they  had  been  presented  to  the  noniinect 
for  Auchterarder  and  Lethendy  ;  but  could  not,  I  imagine, 
without  a  surrender  of  the  very  principle  for  which  the  is  con- 
tending, consent  cither  to  recall  the  sentencrs  already  passed 
on  the  former  delinquents,  or  to  suspend  the  actions  now  pend- 
ing before  her  own  courts  against  the  latter.  The  diticrcnce 
between  the  Church  and  the  state  is,  that  the  Church  caji 
not  deviate  from  the  path  of  her  conceived  duty  in  tnattert 
ecclesiastical ;  whereas  the  state  may,  on  grounds  of  pcdilical 
expediency,  suspend  or  alter  her  methods  of  procedure  in  liie 
disposal,  as  seemeth  to  her  good,  of  ihinps  secular.  The 
Church  goes  all  the  length  she  can  go  when  she  acquic#ce« 
in  this  unlooked-for  stretch  and  exercise  of  j>ower. 

But  for  the  above  consideration  I  should  had  the  appoint- 


354  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

ment  of  a  Commission,  confident  as  I  am  that  the  fullest  in- 
quiry would  serve  the  best  for  the  vindication  of  the  majority 
of  our  Church,  and  that  the  result  would  be  to  soften  away 
many  a  prejudice,  and  remove  many  a  misconception,  which 
now  obtains  on  the  subject  both  of  their  measures  and  of  the 
spirit  and  character  of  the  leading  members  in  that  body — 
nay,  would  demonstrate,  not  only  the  perfect  innocence,  but 
the  Christian,  or,  which  is  tantamount  to  this,  the  truly  con- 
servative patriotism  of  all  their  doings. 

Neither  do  I  object  to  any  of  the  names  you  mention,  and 
hail  with  particular  satisfaction  those  of  the  Duke  of  Argyle, 
the  Marquesses  of  Bute  and  Breadalbane,  Sir  William  Rae — 
to  which  your  own  ought  to  be  added.  But  my  strong  pref- 
erence is  for  such  an  immediate  and  right  settlement  as 
would  supersede  the  necessity  of  such  a  Commission  ;  and 
let  me  entreat  you  to  consider  this  as  the  first  and  not  yet 
matured  view  which  I  have  taken  of  your  suggestion.  I  ever 
am,  my  dear  Sir  George,  yours  most  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCXCVII.— To  Sir  George  Sinclair. 

Burntisland,  30th  September,  1841. 

My  dear  Sir  George — You  seem  not  to  be  aware  that  I 
am  not  a  member  of  the  Committee  on  the  Church  (Question 
— driven  from  it,  in  fact,  by  the  mortifying  experience  which 
I  had  had  of  the  little  reliance  that  was  to  be  placed  on  the 
professions  of  public  and  parliamentary  men. 

I  could  not,  therefore,  give  a  direct  response  to  your  prop- 
osition without  the  usurpation  of  a  power  which  in  no  shape 
or  degree  belongs  to  me.  May  I  beg,  therefore,  that  you  will 
present  it  to  some  other  member  of  the  committee ;  and  to 
none  could  you  do  it  with  greater  propriety  than  to  Dr.  Gor- 
don, our  present  moderator ;  and  I  shall  most  cordially  ac- 
quiesce in  the  arrangement  which  you  propose,  should  it  seem 
good  to  him  and  to  his  colleagues. 

I  am  not  able  to  comprehend  what  is  meant  by  a  last  op- 


SIR  GEORGE  SINCLAIR. 


portunity  which  we  must  seize  upon  now,  or  the  cause  of  ihe 
Church  might  be  irrecoverably  f^one,  unless  it  be  that  uiiIcm 
the  wishes  of  Lord  Aberdeen  in  London,  and  his  advuor  in 
Edinburgh,  shall  be  consulted  by  making  his  bill  the  ground- 
>vork  of  an  arrangement,  the  best  and  greatest  of  our  national 
institutes  must  be  sacrificed  to  the  vanity  or  doggt'dnens  of 
the  two  men.  The  very  thought  of  this  makes  my  bloo«l  boil 
with  indignation.  Sir  Robert  calls  out  for  time  and  liMHuro 
(and  most  rightly)  to  mature  his  civil  and  economiral  meas- 
ures. But  there  must  be  an  instant  soldering,  it  would  ap- 
pear, of  the  affairs  of  the  Church,  and  so  as  to  lay  the  irri- 
tated humors  of  a  mortified  peer  and  an  impractirable  law- 
yer.    The  thing  is  beyond  endurance. 

But  let  me  explain  myself  in  reference  to  a  furiner  letter. 
Should  we  get  no  move  than  the  liberum  arbiliiuin,  it  will 
be  the  clear  duty  of  the  Church  to  work  it  in  the  be»l  way 
possible  ;  and  most  happy  should  I  be,  if  it  so  turned  out,  that 
because  of  its  efficacy  in  securing  a  succession  of  evangelical 
and  efficient  clergymen,  it  superseded  all  further  demand  for 
any  ulterior  changes  or  reformations.  Ever  believe  me.  my 
dear  Sir  George,  yours  most  truly,       Thomas  Ciulmer8. 

PS. On  reading  over  this  letter  I  find  I  have  been  mak- 
ing myself  hot  by  the  imagination  of  a  jiossibility.  You.  how- 
ever, must  know  better,  and  can  perhaps  say  whether  the  po»- 
sibility  be  a  truth. 

No.  CCXCVIIL— To  Sir  George  Sinclair. 

BVH-NTIRLAWD,   30t^  SfptrmhfT,    1841 

My  dear  Sir  George— Since  writing  you  this  morning.  I 
have  seen  the  report  of 'Sir  William  Rae's  speech  at  Rothe- 
say ;  and  I  must  say  that  I  look  far  more  hojK.fully  to  a 
measure  wherewith  he  has  to  do  than  to  aupht  wh.rh  may 
be  grafted  on  Lord  Aberdeen's  bill,  or  concocted  U-twc^n  hi. 
lordship  and  the  Dean  of  Faculty.  I  do  think  that,  alter  ihi. 
.uii.ouncement.  the    most  graceful    and  b<.co,n.n^   th.nc   f-T 


356  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


both  the  dean  And  the  earl  would  be  to  retire  from  the  con- 
cern. The  dean  did  us  great  mischief  by  conjuring  up  the 
Strathbogie  case,  which  I  have  no  doubt  was  gotten  up  main- 
ly under  his  auspices  and  by  his  encouragement,  and  which 
I  fear  will  prove  far  the  most  serious  obstacle  in  the  way  of 
an  adjustment.  I  ever  am,  my  dear  Sir  George,  yours  most 
respectfully,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCXCIX. — To  Sir  George  Sinclair. 

Edinburgh,  6tk  October^  1841. 

My  dear  Sir  George^ — I  return  you  many  thanks  for  )'our 
very  kind  letter,  all  the  more  grateful  to  my  feelings  that  I 
had  the  apprehension  of  having  been  somewhat  too  stout  and 
controversial  in  my  former  communications. 

I  have  heard  through  another  channel  of  the  good  you  are 
doing.  Be  assured  that  if  we  had  but  the  reasonable  pros- 
pect of  a  fair  and  well-principled  adjustment,  all  my  efforts 
should  be  on  the  side  of  peace  and  charity.  I  never  was  a 
friend  to  agitation  for  its  own  sake,  and  would  infinitely  rath- 
er that  the  circumstances  of  the  Church  allowed  its  ministers 
to  remain  quietly  at  their  respective  homes,  and  prosecute  the 
labors  of  their  high  vocation  in  their  own  parishes. 

Since  writing  the  last  page,  I  have  seen  some  friends  of  the 
Church,  both  lay  and  clerical.  Their  feeling  seems  to  be, 
that  it  will  be  impossible,  after  the  attempt  of  the  opposite 
party  to  disestablish  us,  to  stop  the  progress^of  Defensive  As- 
sociations but  by  a  definite  measure,  with  the  character  and 
certainty  of  which  the  bulk  of  the  Church  and  country  might 
be  satisfied.     I  have  the  honor  to  be,  yours,  &c., 

Thomas  Chalmers.* 

No.  CCC. — To  THE  Bishop  of  Llandaff. 

Edinburgh,  27th  October,  1841.  ' 
My  Lord — There  should,  I  think,  be  such  a  freedom  of  the 

*  For  the  remaining  letters  of  this  series,  see  "  Selections  from  the 
Correspondence,"  &c.,  edited  by  Sir  George  Sinclair,  Bart. 


BISHOP  OF  LLANDAFF.  367 


Church  from  civil  coercion,  that  she  should  be  at  liberty  to 
aj)ply  her  own  tests  on  every  appointment  by  the  patmn  lor 
the  determination  ofthe  question,  Is  it  lor  the  Christian  good 
olthe  people  that  this  presentee  should  be  inducted  in  a  given 
parish  as  their  minister]  This  we  have  had  since  the  Rev- 
olution till  the  recent  usurpations  by  our  Court  of  Session. 
It  is  true  that  the  congeniality  of  a  man's  preaching  M-ith  the 
popular  conscience  has  been  regarded  by  the  suflering  parly 
in  Scotland  as  the  element  of  fitness  ;  and  this  because  ofthe 
adaptation  between  the  subject-matter  of  Christianity  and  the 
human  conscience.  I  could  say  much  in  defense  of  this  pe- 
culiarity of  ours,  which,  till  now,  has  never  been  invaded  from 
without,  though  overborne  for  a  century  by  Moderatism  with- 
in. But  I  will  not  detain  your  lordship  further  than  by  say- 
ing, that  I  should  hold  it  an  immense  improvement  on  the 
ecclesiastical  system  in  England,  as  well  as  on  ours,  not  that 
you  should  adopt  all  our  views  on  the  element  of  the  ]x>pular 
will,  but  that  you  should  have  the  benefit  of  the  principle 
which,  if  conceded  to  us,  would  set  our  question  at  rest — "that 
the  power  of  the  patron  and  of  the  civil  courts  should  cease 
from  the  moment  that  the  presentee  is  handed  over  to  the 
Church  courts."  This  would  leave  the  ecclesiastical  power 
clear  for  the  determination  of  its  own  proper  questions,  that 
is,  for  sitting  in  judgment  on  all  the  likelihoods  of  usefulness 
on  the  part  of  such  a  presentee  to  such  a  parish.  The  ma- 
jority of  our  Church  are  at  this  moment  willing  to  endure  the 
deprivation  of  all  their  temporalities  rather  than  have  the  au- 
thority ofthe  Court  of  Session,  as  exercised  within  these  four 
last  years,  forced  upon  us  by  the  Legislature.  It  will  in  fact 
prove  the  suspension,  if  not  the  breaking  up  of  a  religious  Es- 
tablishment in  this  country.      I  am,  my  lord,  yours.  Arc, 

Tho.mas  Ciialmkrs. 

No.  CCCI. — To  THE  Bisiior  or  Llandaff. 

\Hth  January,  1842. 

My  Lord— 1  am  glad  tu  observe  In-m  your  lordship's  let- 


358  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

ter  that  we  are  like  to  be  protected  from  the  civil  courts; 
but  we  must  be  protected  from  them  when  giving  effect  to 
our  own  views  on  the  subject  of  Non-intrusion.  We  do  not 
ask  the  Church  of  England  to  adopt  that  principle  ;  but  we 
ask  her  to  act  upon  it  as  our  principle,  just  as  a  self-regulat- 
ing body  should  not  be  disturbed  in  the  execution  of  its  own 
by-laws,  these  not  being  inconsistent  with  the  order  of  civil 
society.  Our  contest  is  not  for  the  specific  object  of  Non- 
intrusion, but  for  the  greater  and  comprehensive  object  of 
independence  in  spiritual  things,  so  well  advocated  by  the 
Archbishop  of  Dublin.     I  am,  yours,  &c., 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCCII. — To  THE  Honorable  and  Rev.  Dr.  W^llesley. 

Edinburgh,  December,  1841. 

My  dear  Sir — I  beg  to  send  you  the  inclosed  statement, 
with  such  marks  and  observations  of  ray  own  as  occurred  in 
reading  it.  The  only  thing  better  than  the  Duke  of  Argyle's 
bill,  which  I  shall  mention  at  present,  were  the  following  up 
of  a  suggestion  made  by  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  that  we 
should  frame  a  measure  of  our  own  and  send  it  up  for  the 
sanction  of  Parliament.  We  may  be  said  to  have  as  good  as 
done  this  when  we  approved,  by  a  great  majority,  of  the  Duke 
of  Argyle's  bill,  though  I  have  no  doubt  that  we  could  frame 
another  motion  for  giving  effect  to  our  principle,  if  this  were 
preferred. 

Would  the  British  government  think  it  justifiable  to  pro- 
pose that  the  priesthood  of  Hindostan  shall  either  renounce 
their  idolatrous  religion  or  be  stripped  of  their  endowments, 
both  the  religion  and  the  endowments  having  been  long  in 
subsistence  at  the  time  that  their  country  was  acquired  by 
us?  And  the  parallel  question  to  this  is.  Would  it  be  just- 
ifiable to  force  from  the  Church  of  Scotland  the  surrender 
either  of  presbytery  or  any  one  of  what  the  Church  holds  to 
be  its  essential  principles,  on  the  pain  of  losing  her  endow- 
ments if  she  refuse,  seeing  that  both  presbytery  and  its  pri^.- 


LORD  LORNE  ^^ 


ciple  of  Non-intrusion  were  in  full  operation  along  with  the 
endowmeHts  at  a  time  when  this  country  was  annexietl  to  En- 
gland ?  In  other  words,  are  Scotchmen  to  be  treated  wormj 
than  Hindoos  ?  I  may  send  another  memorial  on  the  sub- 
ject;  but  this,  as  being  the  latest,  is  the  worthiest  of  your 
attention.  Thomas  Chalmers. 

F.S. — It  is  of  prime  importance  to  remark,  that  the  paw- 
ing of  the  Duke  of  Argyle's  bill  would  not  alienate  a  single 
clergj^man  from  our  Church  ;  the  forcing  of  another  bill  might 
occasion  such  a  disruption  as  would  lead  to  our  ovfrthrow. 

T   C 


[The  distinguished  talent  and  Christian  patriotism  displayed  by  the 
youthful  Marquess  of  Lome,  in  a  publication  entitled  a  "  Letter  to  the 
Peers,"  not  only  awakened  Dr.  Chalmers's  livelie.si  aclmimtif)n.  Uit  fill- 
ed him  with  the  highest  anticipations  of  the  powerful  mtluence  uhicK, 
in  his  after  life,  might  be  exerted  by  one  so  gifted  and  50  ffiKnl.  not  only 
upon  his  own  order,  but  upon  society  at  large.  On  receiving  this  pub- 
lication, Dr.  Chalmers  addressed  the  following  letter  to  the  marqueat.] 

No.  CCCm.— To  Lord  Lorne. 

Edinbtroh,  2f<th  January.  1842 
My  dear  Lord  Lorne — I  have  read  your  work  with  the 
most  profound  interest  and  satisfaction,  insomuch  thnt  I  fear 
to  incur  the  semblance  of  insincerity  by  telling  you  all  I  think 
of  its  merits.  Let  tne,  therefore,  copy  a  ikM>t<-nrc  which  I 
have  just  v^-ritten  to  Lord  Galloway,  after  hating  cnlrealcd 
him  to  read  your  letter  :  "  It  is  a  truly  admirable  and  far  the 
best  pleading  in  favor  of  the  Chttrch,  on  tho  pround«  of  con- 
stitutional law,  that  has  yet  appean-d.  Heaven  grant  that 
it  may  open  the  eyes  of  our  rulers,  and  take  them  out  of  that 
false  position  which  they  now  occupy— having  the  namrt  of 
Conservatives,  yet  undermining  the  best  and  mntt  truly  Too- 
servative  of  all'  our  national  institutes."  An  an  «ddrr«  to 
statesmen,  we  have  had  nothing  half  so  goo<l.  or  that  prom- 
ises to  be  half  so  influential  during  the  whole  oootTOYcr.T 


360  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

and  I  am  sure  it  will  cheer  and  encourage  the  hearts  of  very 
many  of  pur  friends. 

In  writing  to  yourself,  instead  of  expatiating  on  the  general 
merits  of  your  composition,  let  me  enter  more  into  particulars. 
I  like  what  may  be  termed  the  construction  of  the  argument, 
and  think  you  have  happily  both  relieved  and  strengthened 
no  little  a  part  of  it  by  your  reference  to  history — more  es- 
pecially when  you  infer  the  character  of  our  principles  from 
the  nature  of  the  opposition  to  them,  as  embodied. in  the 
"Black  Acts."  Again,  the  deference  paid  to  our  constitu- 
tional liberties  by  the  Law  of  Patronage,  in  that  it  enacted 
but  the  forfeiture  of  the  emoluments  as  the  penalty  of  its 
own  violation,  is  exceedingly  well-reasoned  and  brought  out ; 
and  I  think  it  most  fortunate  that  you  brought  this  to  bear 
on  that  mischievous  article  in  "  Blackwood" — the  evil  in- 
fluences of  which  your  lordship's  counter-observations  are  so 
well  fitted  to  neutralize.  I  furthermore  rejoice  in  the  point- 
ed notices  which  you  have  taken  of  the  Moderates,  and  think 
you  particularly  felicitous  in  instancing  the  check  of  refusing 
the  supplies  in  the  hand  of  Parliament  as  demonstrative  of 
the  real  nature  of  the  British  Constitution,  however  seldom, 
nay,  even  though  it  should  never  be  put  into  operation. 

I  do  hope  that  your  clear  and  masterly  distinction  between 
the  legal  and  the  constitutional,  or  between  the  leges  and  the 
leges  legiini,  will  tell  on  the  public  understanding,  and  that 
your  exposure  of  the  Strathbogie  ministers  will  enable  men 
to  see  in  its  just  light  the  whole  extent  of  their  delinquen- 
cy ;  and  I  look  confidently  forward  to  a  reaction  of  sentiment 
against  the  Court  of  Session  from  the  perusal  of  your  pam- 
phlet. 

But  far  the  most  brilliant  and  effective  part  of  your  pam- 
phlet is  that  in  which  you  deal  so  successfully  with  Sir  Rob- 
ert Peel's  letter.  This  will  probably  interest  your  readers 
the  most  of  all  you  have  written;  and  there  is  a  truly  addi- 
tional test  given  to  your  work  by  your  notices  of  Lords  Aber- 
deen, Brougham,  and  Melbourne. 


LORD  LORXE. 


I  feel  that  I  have  given  you  a  most  inadequate  reprcieni. 
atiou  of  all  I  think  and  feel  on  the  subject  of  your  work. 
To  supplement  this  in  some  degree  I  shall  send  you  your  own 
pamphlet,  as  marked  by  me  in  the  course  of  my  perusal  of 
it — a  habit  of  mine  in  reading.  I  remember  being  much  in- 
terested by  falling  in  with  a  pamphlet  of  my  own,  marked  in 
the  same  way,  and  from  which  1  learned  what  the  passage* 
were  which  had  been  met  by  a  responding  intelligence  and 
good  liking  on  the  part  of  him  who  read  it.  I  have  only  re- 
solved now  on  thus  sending  the  pamphlet  to  yon,  so  that  the 
marks  were  just  the  spontaneous  indications  of  the  moment, 
and  I  will  not  add  another ;  although,  on  looking  over  it,  I 
find  that  the  part  I  liked  most  is  marked  the  least  ;  that  is, 
your  argument  on  Sir  Robert  Peel,  which  1  must  have  re- 
frained from  marking  till  I  got  to  its  closing  passages. 

Let  me  add,  that  there  is  a  certain  command  of  statement 
and  reasoning  which  must  add  greatly  to  the  impre»»ivene»« 
of  your  work.  I  was  afraid,  from  its  being  so  closely  argu- 
mentative, that  it  might  not  be  read  with  so  much  interest 
and  attention  by  the  general  run  of  readers.  I  am  happy  to 
find,  however,  that  Mrs.  Chalmers  pronounces  on  it  as  most 
lucid  and  intelligible  ;  and  she  is  particularly  struck  with 
your  exposure  of  the  infirmities  of  Sir  Robert  Peel's  letter. 
Another  lady  in  our  neighborhood,  to  whom  I  sent  my  own 
copy  from  the  shop  yesterday,  has  returned  it  with  a  Ime, 
saying,  that  she  never  till  now  saw  clearly  into  the  ments  of 
our  case. 

You  have  done  us  a  great  service.  Many,  ver)-  many,  of 
the  Church's  best  friends  will  bless  God  and  rejoice  bccausa 
of  it.  I  shall  be  delighted  to  hear  of  your  lordship's  im- 
proved health,  and  will  "ever  have  the  greatest  pleasure  lo 
attending  to  your  lordship.  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  mjr 
dearest  marquess,  yours  most  gratefully  and  most  aHrction- 
ately,  Thomas  Chalmeb* 

["I  can  not,"  said  his  lordship,  in  writing  to  Dr.  Chalrorn  •!  ifcn 
period,  "  refrain  from  expressing  my  deep  regret  rt  iIm  oaxure  ct  ibe 


V 


a 


36g  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

proceedings  of  the  Presbytery  of  Edinburgh.  I  regret  that  the  Pres- 
bytery has  urged  upon  the  General  Assembly  to  engage  in  an  anti- 
patronage  war,  because  it  gives  ground  for  the  charge  that  the  Church 
mounts  in  her  demands  to  meet  and  to  secure  popular  applause.  I  re- 
gret it,  because  this  moving  a  'peg  higher,'  as  Dr.  Candlish  has  ex- 
pressed it,  can  be  justified  on  no  principle  that  I  am  aware  of,  and 
lowers,  in  my  opinion,  the  character  of  her  position.  I  do  not,  indeed, 
view  patronage,  as  some  have  done,  as  if  it  were  a  great  leading  in- 
stitution, and  as  if  it  were  revolutionary  to  speak  against  it ;  but  I 
again  repeat,  that  I  see  no  cause  or  just  ground  for  the  Church  de- 
manding what  she  did  not  demand  before.  I  see  no  '  course  of  events' 
which  calls  for  such  a  change  ;  but  I  do  see,  and  am  thoi-oughly  con- 
vinced of  the  impolicy  and  inutility  of  such  a  change,  and  I  feel  sure 
that  those  who  have  felt  themselves  '  shut  up'  to  enter  an  anti-patron- 
age contest,  have  contributed  much  to  '  shut  up'  the  Church  from  any 
remaining  chance  of  settlement.  I  do  not  know  how  the  duke  can 
preface  his  bill  in  the  House  as  a  '  settlement  of  the  question,'  with 
any  confidence  or  truth,  if  the  Church  adopts  such  a  course ;  nor  do  I 
know  any  means  by  which  he  could  persuade  the  peers  that  it  is  their 
duty  to  advance  in  their  concessions  in  proportion  as  the  Church  rises 
in  her  demands."  The  able  and  earnest  remonstrance  from  which 
these  sentences  have  been  quoted  elicited  the  following  lengthened 
reply.] 

No.  CCCIV.— To  Lord  Lorne. 

Edinburgh,  19th  February,  1842. 
My  dear  Lord  Lorne — Your  lordship  can  not  be  more 
annoyed  than  I  have  often  been  by  the  evils  that  we  have 
suffered  from  the  complication  of  our  question  ;  and  by  what 
I  have  felt  to  be  the  tactlessness  of  many  of  our  friends,  who 
have  obtruded  their  Non-intrusion  on  the  attention  of  En- 
glishmen, when  they  should  have  kept  by  the  cause  of  spirit- 
ual independence,  or  who,  in  the  ordering  of  this  cause  before 
them,  have  argued  independently  of  the  special  exercise  or 
application  that  had  been  made  of  the  Church's  inherent 
power,  when  their  great  strength  would  have  lain  in  defend- 
ing the  power  itself.  It  is  not  to  be  told  how  much  the  real 
merits  of  our  question  have  been  obscured  and  mystified  by 
this  unfortunate  complication  ;  and  one  great  ingredient  of 
force  and  clearness  in  your  lordship's  work  is  the  close  adher- 


LORD  LORNE 


ence  of  it  to  that  one  principle,  on  which  alone  we  can  ef- 
pect  to  engage  the  sympathies  of  the  English  Church,  and,  1 
may  add,  the  sympathies  of  all  the  churches  in  Christendom. 
There  is  all  the  difference  between  the  two  parts  ofour  con- 
troversy that  there  is  between  a  genus  and  a  species.     Your 

lordship  has  done  well  in  confining  your  view  to  the  genus 

the  generic  or  comprehensive  principle,  which,  if  once  secured, 
would  leave  the  possession   of  the  species  to  ourselves. 

But  two  things  can  be  alleged  in  explanation  of  this  ;  and 
the  latter  of  the  two  goes  far  to  justify,  insomuch  as  it  hu 
precipitated  a  far  more  ostensible  reference  to  the  principles 
of  Non-intrusion  than  might  otherwise  have  l)een  expedient. 

In  the  first  place,  the  only  exception  which  Lord  Aberdeen 
and  others  would  lay  upon  our  free  discretion  is,  on  the  power 
of  giving  effect  to  the  dissent  of  the  people,  however  honest 
and  religious  we  may  judge  that  dissent  to  be,  unless  they 
are  able  to  substantiate  it  by  such  reasons  as  we  can  approve 
of.  Now,  without  entering  at  present  on  the  rijrhtnes.s  ofour 
giving  effect  to  a  dissent  in  these  circum.'tanccs  (which  I 
think  admits  of  most  ample  vindication),  let  me  but  adrert 
to  the  high  estimation  in  which  it  was  heM  by  the  Church — 
insomuch  that  they  elevated  it  from  the  rank  of  a  mere  judi- 
cial principle,  on  which  they  might  act  or  not  according  to 
circumstances,  to  the  rank  of  a  law  on  which  they  must  act 
invariably — thus  marking  a  distinguished  preference  for  the 
object  or  principle  of  that  law.  Hut  it  has  been  disallowed 
by  the  Court  of  Session  :  and  what  we  want,  ihcn-lore,  is. 
that  the  Legislature  shall  append  civil  efiect  to  it,  through 
some  such  bill  as  the  Duke  of  Argyle's.  Now  what  is  the 
return  made  to  this  application  by  Lord  Abenleen's  bill  ?  It 
is  something  a  great  deal"  worse  than  a  refusal,  simply  to  cod- 
firm  our  law  ;  for  this  were  merely  to  consign  the  prmcipie 
thereof  back  to  its  own  level,  and  would  leave  nt  to  act  on 
it  as  heretofore  as  we  saw  cause.  But  more  than  tht.  he 
would  degrade  it  immeasurably  beneath  the  pi.cr  it  had  br- 
foro   the  veto  law  was  passed— when  we  were  at  lea*t  frre 


364  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

to  act  upon  it  judicially,  though  not  bound  to  act  upon  it 
statutorily.      He  would  take  away  this  freedom,  and  on  the 
tenderest  of  all  points — that  is,  the  very  thing  which  we  so 
much  valued  as  to  make  it  the  object  of  a  universal  enact- 
ment, he  would  make  the  object  of  a  universal  prohibition  ; 
so  that  what  formerly  we  may  have  done  at  any  time,  we 
must  never,  according  to  his  bill,  do  now.     By  his  bill,  then, 
there    are  two  principles   struck  at  and  done  violence  to  : 
first,  by  an  abridgment  of  our  freedom  at  all — the  principle 
of  our  spiritual  independence  ;  second,  by  an  abridgment  of 
it  on  this  particular  question — the  ancient  constitutional  prin- 
ciple of  Non-intrusion.     It  is  like  the  infliction  of  a  double 
violence  ;  and  we  are  not  to  wonder  at  the  double  resent- 
ment or  resistance  to  which  it  has  given  rise — or  that  what 
they  have  singled  out  as  the  object  on  which  to  violate  our 
liberty,  should  have  called  forth  our  special  regards  or  spe- 
cial vindication,  as  well  as  the  general  cause  of  liberty  itself. 
But  secondly,  and  still  more  urgently.    When  we  did  urge 
our  spiritual  independence  apart  from  Non-intrusion,  what  use 
was  made  of  this  by  our  opponents  ?      They  gave  forth  that 
we  had  lost  sight  of  the  people,  and  were  intent  only  on  our 
own  power.     I  can  imagine  nothing  more  exquisitely  unjust 
and  injurious  than  the  treatment  of  the  Church  in  this  re- 
spect by  the  adversaries  who  were  opposed  to  her.    The  only 
part  of  our  spiritual  independence  that  was  in  jeopardy  was 
the  power  of  giving  efiect  to  the  dissent  of  the  people  ;  and 
it  is  in  fact  for  their  cause  that  the  Church  has  incurred  all 
the  plagues  and  the  perils  of  this  controversy.     And,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  only  exception  which  our  antagonists  were 
for  laying  on  our  spiritual  independence,  was  the  liberty  of 
giving  effect  to  the  people's  dissent  ;  so  that  really,  after  all, 
their  opposition,  though  ostensibly  against  us,  was  virtual- 
ly and  in  effect  against  the  people  through  us.     Yet  would 
these  opponents  of  ours  brand  us  with  seeking  our  own  ag- 
grandizement, and  not  caring  for  the  people  ;   and,  Conserv- 
atives though  most  of  them  were,  gladly  accepted  the  aid 


LORD  LORNE. 


both  of  Radicals  and  Voluntaries,  in  urging  home  a  popular 
invective  and  outcry  against  the  pretensions  of  a  dornintM-r- 
ing  priesthood.  This  was  beyond  all  endurance,  and  the 
temptation,  or  rather  the  necessity,  was  quite  irresiBtible.  that 
we  should  place  the  principle  of  Non-intrusion  more  on  the 
foreground  than  we  had  done,  that  the  real  object  of  ilu* 
Church  might  be  understood,  and  so  her  character  viiidiralf<l 
against  the  unworthy  artifices  of  her  multiform  and  motley 
opponents.  I  speak  on  my  own  historical  recollection*  of 
what  actually  happened.  At  the  outset  of  the  Non-intrnsion 
Committee's  negotiations  with  Lord  Aberdeen,  and  when  I 
myself  was  convener  of  it,  I  held  converse  as  well  a«  corre- 
spondence with  his  lordship,  and  was  quite  willing  at  that 
time  to  exchange  the  veto  law  for  the  Ubrrum  aibitrxum. 
It  was  reported  that  he  in  consequence  wrote  to  the  l)can  of 
Faculty,  now  Lord  Justice  Clerk,  that  he  had  prevailed  on 
us  to  give  up  the  veto  law  ;  and  the  representation  which 
our  enemies  grafted  on  this  report,  and  industriously  circula- 
ted to  our  prejudice,  was,  that  we  had  surrendered  the  people, 
and  Mere  now  standing  out  on  the  question  of  our  own  power 
only.  This  was  very  hard  to  bear,  when,  in  point  of  fact, 
what  we  have  been  standing  out  for  all  along  is  for  the  jtow- 
er  of  protecting  the  people  ;  and,  to  save  ourselves  from  the 
vile  mystification  practiced  against  us  by  these  our  determined 
adversaries,  we  are  obliged,  whether  we  would  or  not.  lo 
speak,  not  in  the  general  of  spiritual  independence  only,  but 
of  the  special  and,  indeed,  the  only  contest  for  whirh  that 
independence  is  at  present  staked — a  contest  for  the  »<•<  •  "v 
of  Christian  congregations  against  the  inlro.Mc-n  (  f  imm 
able  ministers. 

And  now,  my  lord,  let  me  refer  to  :in  r\j.rr>^i.ii  .n  >v...i 
letter,  when  you  say  that  the  Church,  by  quillinp  the  ar^u- 
ment  of  her  spiritual  independence  as  the  al..n.-  prniimlorhrr 
vindication,  has  given  up  the  only  position  in  which  .hr  ^'  ^» 
unassailable.  She,  in  the  first  instance,  has  not  girrn  up  this 
position,  though  compelled  also  to  make  u»e  of  other  ar^u- 


366  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

merits  besides.  But  what  I  particularly  wish  is  to  direct  your 
lordship's  attention  to  the  distinction  between  a  cause  being 
unassailable  in  respect  of  argument,  and  the  same  cause  be- 
ing unassailable  in  respect  of  practical  safety.  It  is  truly  a 
possible  thing  to  make  out  a  resistless  demonstration  in  favor 
of  our  Church  ;  and  yet,  if  we  do  nothing  more  but  keep  by 
the  terms  of  that  demonstration,  and  make  triumphant  repe- 
tition of  it,  we  may  in  fact  be  neglecting  the  only  means  by 
which  to  save  her  from  destruction.  I  have  already  shown 
what  practically  the  effect  is,  when  we  make  exclusive  alle- 
gation of  our  own  spiritual  power.  Our  adversaries,  with  a  sin- 
gular disregard  of  all  principle  and  truth,  have  availed  them- 
selves of  this  for  the  purpose  of  detaching  and  alienating  the 
people  from  our  cause.  It  was  a  most  natural  feeling  on  the 
part  of  our  friends,  that  if,  with  the  mere  view  of  simplifying, 
we  were  to  concentrate  our  argument  on  a  single  point,  and 
this  to  make  us  controversially  stronger,  or  stronger  on  the 
abstract  than  we  otherwise  might  be,  we  should  thereby  be- 
come weaker  in  the  concrete,  and  fall  before  a  weight  of  ad- 
versaries regardless  of  all  argument,  and  resolved  at  every 
hazard,  and  though  with  the  sacrifice  of  every  principle,  to 
overbear  and  trample  on  the  Church  of  Scotland.  Should  it 
come  to  this — should  we  be  crushed  by  the  hand  of  power, 
and  our  virulent  and  determined  enemies  get  the  better  of  us 
on  the  field  of  living  contest,  it  will  be  a  poor  consolation  that 
we  had  the  better  of  them  on  the  field  of  argument.  We 
are  not,  therefore,  to  keep  by  the  topic  of  our  spiritual  inde- 
pendence alone,  when  our  enemies  take  such  dishonest  ad- 
vantage of  this.  We  are,  in  truth,  fighting  not  only  our  own 
battles,  but  the  battles  of  the  people  ;  and  why  should  not  the 
people  be  made  aware  of  it?  Are  we  to  forfeit  the  benefit 
of  an  alliance  with  those  for  whose  best  and  highest  interests 
we  are  putting  to  hazard  all  our  possessions  and  interests  in 
this  world,  and  this  in  order  that  we  might  become  an  easy 
prey  to  those  heartless  oppressors,  who  first  would  asperse  and 
blacken,  and  then  would  destroy  us  ? 


LORD  LORNE.  867 


You  have  estimated  well  the  evil  of  complicatinj^  an  ar- 
gument unnecessarily.     But  in  some  cases  it  may  be  a  nec- 
essary evil.      Certain  it  is  that  it  has  cast  an  obscuration  over 
the  real  strength  and  merits  of  our  cause,  in  the  t-yes  even  of 
what  may  be  called  the  higher  reason  of  the  country  ;  and  lhi« 
is  precisely  the  obscuration  which  your  lordship's  work  is  so 
well  fitted  to  dissipate.     But  even  if  educated  minds  are  puz- 
zled by  the  complexities  of  a  question,  how  much  more  must 
we  expect  this  in  the  minds  of  the  general  population  ?     Now 
what  has  the  Church  been  doing  for  the  sake  of  making  out 
a  necessary  reformation,  with  the  greatest  ease  and  least  pos- 
sible disturbance?   for,  essentially  conservative  as  she  is,  she 
would  like  to  work  out  all  her  improvements  in  the  safest  and 
most  pacific  way.     She  for  ten  years  has  been  laboring  to  ef- 
fect a  composition  between  the  rights  of  patronage  and  th« 
rights  of  popular  conscience,  so  as  to  amalgamate  these  two 
distinct  elements  ;  and  she  succeeded  by  means  of  her  v^'to 
law,  which,  if  let  alone,  might  have  secured  both  the  peace 
and  efficiency  of  our  Church  for  an  indefinite  p-riod.     But 
she  has  been  precipitated  into  a  warfare  upon  this  question  ; 
and  with  singular  moderation  has  her  majority  kept  by  » 
midway  position,  between  an  absolute  and  unlimited  patron- 
age on  the  one  hand,  and  popular  election  on  the  other.     She 
has  thus  subjected  herself  to  the  heavy  disadvantage  of  mam- 
taining  a  complex,  when  she  might  have  adopted  a  Mmpl« 
proposition,  and  so  commanded  the  cordial,  unmixed,  enthusi- 
astic support  of  the  great  bulk  and  body  of  the  rehg.ous  pub- 
lie  in  Scotland.     When  I  say  that  in  their  mmds  there  is  not 
room  or  comprehension  for  more  than  one  idea,  1  lay  nothing 
especially  disparaging  to  them  ;  for  this  it  precisely  what 
your  lordship,  as  well  as  myself  must  have  ex|>enence<l  ol 
those  of  the  conservative  and  cultivated  orders  who  arc  now 
arrayed  in  hostility  against  the  Church.     For  the  sake  ofpnv 
pitiating  their  understandings,  you  would  cast  ofl  >on  n  • 
sion  from  the  controversy,  and  keep  by  •P'^'^"*   '"^'t^^;"'';.  '^ 
Now  for  this  very  reason,  we.  to  prop.uate  tJ»e  full  under- 


368  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

standings  of  the  country  at  large,  should  cast  off  Non-intru- 
sion too,  and  keep  by  the  one  simple  and  intelligible  principle 
of  the  abolition  of  patronage.  There  is  no  reason  why,  if  gov- 
ernment and  the  Conservatives  will  not  grant  us  the  half 
measure  which  would  have  satisfied  us,  we  should  not  lay 
hold  of  all  the  additional  strength  that  we  shall  gain  by  seek- 
ing the  whole  measure,  and  more  especially  as  the  whole 
measure  would  satisfy  us  better.  I  have  no  affection  what- 
ever for  patronage  in  itself,  nor  do  I  see  a  single  positive  ar- 
gument or  principle  that  would  incline  me  to  the  ado'ption 
of  it.  But  as  it  exists,  I,  for  one,  on  the  principle  of  making 
the  most  of  things  as  they  are,  should  have  rejoiced  in  any 
practical  expedient,  by  which  to  harmonize  the  right  govern- 
ment of  the  Church  with  a  state  of  matters  already  in  being.  - 
But  these  foolish  Conservatives  won't  let  us  ;  and  with  all 
my  native  preferences  for  the  position  of  the  extreme  gauche 
upon  this  question,  as  no  other  alternative  is  left  me,  I  most 
congenially  and  approvingly  will  go  along  with  them.  This 
is  precisely  the  movement  of  our  Church  at  this  moment ; 
and  if  she  is  charged  because  of  it,  with  the  waywardness  of 
moving  from  one  extreme  to  another,  it  is  truly  owing  to  no 
waywardness  of  hers,  but  to  the  impracticable  obstinacy  of 
the  extreme  droit,  who,  whether  we  look  to  ecclesiastical  or 
to  secular  politics,  will  be  found  the  real,  though  not  the  prox- 
imate causes  of  all  the  violent  and  precipitate  changes  which 
take  place  in  society. 

In  the  present  instance  I  can  clearly  see  a  most  justifiable 
reason  (apart  from  the  policy  of  it)  for  passing  at  once  to  the 
lower  extreme,  rather  than  attempting  to  take  up  with  some 
of  the  intermediate  positions.  My  general  inclination  is  for 
a  gradual  and  pacific  march  of  improvement.  Leibnitz's  law 
of  continuity  in  physics  I  should  like  to  see  exemplified  in  pol- 
itics also.  In  spite  of  all  the  ridicule  that  has  been  cast  on 
bit  and  bit  reforms,  it  is  a  style  of  reform  which  I  greatly  pre- 
fer to  such  sudden  and  large  transitions  by  movements  'per 
saltum,  as  was  effected,  for  instance,  through  the  late  Reform 


LORD  LORXE.  399 


Bill.     On  this  principle  I  should  have  been  satisfied  at  fint 

with  a  mere  liberum  arbitrium — the  very  least  and  gentlest 
modification  that  could  have  been  attempted  on  palronage. 
But  in  very  proportion  to  the  moderation  of  my  demand,  now 
that  it  has  been  resisted,  is  my  conviction  of  the  intractable 
nature  of  the  element  I  have  had  to  deal  with.  Had  1  ireal- 
ed  with  patronage  from  some  of  the  more  distant  jxmilions 
and  been  withstood,  the  hope  might  still  have  remained  with- 
.n  me,  that,  by  taking  a  nearer  position,  I  might  gain  from  it 
some  mitigation  of  its  rigors.  But  I  have  been  treating  with 
it  dil  along  from  the  nearest  position  which  is  at  all  }K)»sible. 
Of  all  men  I  have  made  the  least  and  the  gentlesl  (lenjandi 
upon  it,  and  have  therefore  had  the  most  einphatir  evidence 
of  its  unyielding  and  impregnable  quality.  I,  of  all  men  then, 
am  the  most  logically  and  legitimately  entitled  to  pans  at 
once  to  the  conclusion  that  nothing  will  serve  but  the  utter 
extinction  of  this  unruly  element.  Patronage  and  the  popu- 
lar will  may  not  necessarily  and  in  their  own  nature  be  im- 
miscible, but  enough  for  a  practical  conclusion,  that  the  men 
in  power  and  in  possession  will  not  allow  of  their  combina- 
tion, and  that  therefore  they  are  immiscible  in  deed  and  in 
actual  performance.  If  the  thing  will  not  bo  regulated,  it 
ought  to  be  destroyed. 

It  grieves  me  to  say  that  a  process  is  now  in  op-ration 
which,  if  continued,  will  at  length  open  the  eyes  of  all  virtu- 
ous and  sound-hearted  men,  and  convince  them  that  patronage 
is  a  thing  which  it  is  impossible  to  keep  terms  with  I  allude 
to  the  profligate  system  now  adopted  of  treating  and  traffick- 
ing with  our  hcentiates  ere  they  shall  obtain  a  presentation. 
This  tampering  with  the  principles  of  the  future  ministert  of 
religion  bodes  fearfully  both  for  the  Church  and  the  country 
by  another  generation.  It  is  dropping  poison  into  the  fonnt- 
ains  of  the  national  morality  ;  and  if  not  arrested,  will  m 
speed  the  progress  of  corruption,  that  it  must  soon  be  visited 
by  its  own  natural  penalties,  as  well  as  call  forth  the  judf  • 
ments  of  offended  Heaven  on  a  degenerate  land 

a  2 


370  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

But  it  may  well  be  asked,  do  we  put  ourselves  into  a  like- 
lier position  for  success  by  taking  up  the  ground  of  anti-pat- 
ronage ?  Not  certainly  if  we  look  singly  to  the  existing  dis- 
positions of  our  legislators  ;  nor  am  I  at  all  sanguine  that 
these  will  be  much  influenced  or  operated  on  through  the 
medium  of  the  Scottish  population.  On  that  population — I 
mean  the  best  and  most  religious  part  of  them — we  are  gain- 
ing every  day  ;  and  if  Conservatives,  on  the  one  hand,  have 
not  scrupled  to  avail  themselves  of  Radicals  and  political  dis- 
senters in  opposition  to  the  Church,  we,  on  the  other,  might 
most  legitimately  rejoice  in  the  accessions  made  to  our  strength 
from  the  truly  Christian  and  conscientious  dissenters  who  will 
swell  our  ranks  on  the  event  of  that  disruption  to  which  many 
of  us  are  now  looking  forward,  and  for  which  I  am  happy  to 
say  that  a  most  hopeful  preparation  is  now  going  on.  It  is 
our  duty  to  do  all  we  can  for  the  averting  of  such  a  catas- 
trophe, but  it  is  also  our  duty  to  be  in  readiness  for  the  worst ; 
and  though  I  have  a  great  dislike  to  all  agitation  when  there 
is  no  practical  call  for  it,  yet,  in  present  circumstances,  I  must 
confess  that  I  do  look  with  the  most  benignant  complacency 
on  the  Defense  Associations,  which  are  multiplying  so  fast  in 
various  parts  of  our  country.  They  will  form  a  ready-made 
apparatus  for  the  support  of  a  Church  in  full  possession  of 
that  spiritual  independence  which  had  not  been  permitted  to 
us  within  the  pale  of  the  national  endowments.  I  trust  it 
may  be  so  well  supported  and  extended  as  that  we  shall  be 
enabled,  in  perfect  freedom  from  the  interdicts  and  tracasse- 
ries  both  of  courts  and  of  heritors,  to  impart  without  let  or 
hinderance  the  blessings  of  Christian  instruction  to  those 
many  thousands  who  hitherto  have  been  utter  strangers  to 
the  habits  and  decencies  of  a  Christian  land.  Heaven  grant 
that,  in  this  spirit  of  true  charity  and  Christian  patriotism, 
our  ministers  might  be  enabled,  in  return  for  their  sufferings 
and  their  cares,  to  render  this  best  of  services  to  the  com- 
monwealth ;  and,  by  saving  the  countiy  from  that  sorest  of 
all  distempers,  a  profligate  and  irreligious  common  people,  to 


LORD  LORNE.  fri 


save  our  now  blind  and  infatuated  aristocracy  from  ihem- 
selves. 

I  have  written  with  all  the  heaviness  of  an  invalid,  and 
am  now  rusticating  in  the  country  for  the  bcnotit  ol  iny  ht-alih. 
But  I  could  not  leave  your  able  and  interestinp  icltenj  any 
longer  unreplied  to.  I  shall  rejoice  at  all  tiinc»  lo  hoar  from 
you,  and  promise  never  to  inflict  so  long  an  epistle  ujKjn  you 
in  future.  It  would  suit  my  strength  and  my  engagoments 
better  to  write  not  at  length  on  the  general  subject,  but  ahorl- 
ly,  and  on  single  points  of  it  at  a  time.  Let  me  earneutly 
recommend  as  the  object  of  your  attention  what  may  be  rall«>d 
the  human  nature  of  our  question,  now  that  you  have  ac- 
quitted yourself  in  a  style  so  masterly  on  the  law  of  the  quei- 
tion.  I  should  rejoice  if  you  were  to  make  a  study  oi  ih« 
workings  of  this  one  system  and  that  other  throughout  the 
country  at  large,  and  among  the  people  who  live  in  it.  1  feel 
assured  it  would  convince  you  not  of  the  innocence  only,  but 
the  positive  good  of  having  our  Church  more  popularized.  It 
would  dissipate  the  association  so  extensively  prevalent  be- 
tween a  popular  system  in  the  Church  and  democracy  in  the 
state,  and  land  you  in  a  conclusion  the  very  reverse  ol  that 
which  is  the  all  but  universal  faith  of  those  of  your  own  order. 

Thomas  Ciialmbes. 

No.  CCCV.— To  Lord  Lor.ne. 

Epinburch,  15/A  Marck^  lS4t. 
My  dear  Lord  Lorne — 1  received  your  la*l  letter  wme 
days  ago.  It,  in  conjunction  with  your  lordship  ■  truly  ad- 
mirable preface  to  the  second  edition  of  your  work,  ooonnee* 
me  that  substantially  we  are  far  more  at  one  than  ippcan 
to  be  upon  the  surface.-  The  most  n)aterial  diHerence  re- 
spects the  time  in  which  the  Church  should  have  simplified 
the  object  of  her  endeavors,  and  openly  announr^jd  what  many 
of  us  have  all  along  felt.  Her  optimum  is  the  abuht.on  of 
patronage.  It  was  the  hopelessness  of  this  altm.nmmt  i|ih.ch 
restrained  her  from  friwumg  an  express .«i  900001 ;  aad  il  »f 


372  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

now  her  hopelessness  of  any  effectual  security  against  the 
evils  of  patronage  which  convinces  her  that  the  time  has  now 
come  for  attempting  the  entire  removal  of  it.  Had  your  lord- 
ship been  aware  of  the  whole  of  our  correspondence  with  men 
in  power,  and  of  the  treatment  we  have  received  at  their 
hands,  I  feel  confident  that  you  would  not  think  we  had  be- 
come hopeless  too  soon.  I  shall  only  instance  the  last  of  a 
long  series  of  disappointments,  in  that  Sir  James  Graham  held 
out  the  prospect  of  an  amicable  settlement,  provided  that  we 
did  not  agitate  the  country  ;  and  professes  now,  that  had  he 
understood  our  object  of  gaining  the  liherum  arhitrium^  he 
never  would  have  entered  into  negotiation  with  us  at  all. 
Our  confidence  in  public  men  is  now  completely  shaken  ;  and 
it  is  too  much  in  them  to  expect  that  we  shall  lend  ourselves 
any  further  to  the  objects  of  their  policy  by  neglecting  to  avail 
ourselves  any  longer  of  the  only  human  help  which  remains 
to  us — the  friendship  of  the  people — until  hostile  statesmen 
shall  have  finished  their  last  work  upon  us,  and  we  thrown 
ofi^  by  the  one  party  shall  have  made  new  provision  in  the 
support  of  the  other  party,  for  a  refuge  to  fall  back  upon. 

Meanwhile,  can  any  thing  be  fairer  than  the  warning  now 
given  to  the  men  in  power?  They  know  that  the  duke's 
bill  would  bring  us  all  into  a  state  of  quiescence  ;  and  they 
also  know  that  the  passing  of  their  own  favorite  measure 
would  be  gall  and  wormwood  to  the  great  majority  of  the 
Church.  They  are  able  to  avert  the  consequence  of  this  if 
they  choose  ;  and  if  they  do  not,  whether  that  consequence 
shall  be  the  abolition  of  the  patronage  or  the  ruin  of  the  Es- 
tablishment, this  is  a  result  which  must  be  laid  in  either  case, 
not  at  our  door,  but  at  that  of  our  opponents. 

There  is  one  thing,  however,  which  I  believe  they  do  not 
know,  and  which,  perhaps,  it  were  well  they  did,  for  it  is  a 
matter  on  which  they  seem  to  be  absolutely  incredulous  ;  and 
that  is  the  perfect  determination  on  the  part,  I  believe,  of 
hundreds  of  our  clergy  rather  to  be  driven  from  their  places 
than  to  surrender  the  spiritual  independence  of  the  Church. 


WILLIAM  LAMONT,  JUN.,  ESQ. 


tft 


I  this  morning  received  a  printed  sketch  of  what  will  loon 
be  circulated  among  the  Non-intrusionist  clergy,  and  which 
will  show  what  the  prospects  are  which  iht-ynow  rhcn»h. 
and  what  the  provision  is  which  they  are  now  plnnnmp  to 
meet  the  possibilities  that  are  before  ihern.  I  ran  not  think 
it  wrong  to  send  my  copy  to  your  lordship ;  and  indeed  1  think 
it  but  fair  and  desirous  that  even  our  worst  enemies  should 
be  apprised  of  what  is  really  going  forward,  kc. 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

PS. — I  have  this  day  seen  a  Highland  iiiiniBttT  who  as- 
sures me  that  the  whole  of  his  synod  ((ilenelp)  are  in  readi- 
ness to  quit  the  Establishment  rather  than  submit  to  a  ciril 
supremacy  over  the  Church.  T  ' ' 

No.  CCCVI. — To  William  Lamont,  Jun.,  Est^.,  iii.A^av,-. 

Edinbibgh,  9tk  jipril,  1842. 

Dear  Sir — I  regret  that  I  can  not  attend  a  meeting,  the 
spirit  and  the  objects  of  which  I  so  thoroughly  approve. 

It  is  cheering  to  observe  the  progress  of  our  great  cause  ; 
and  that  while,  on  the  one  hand,  the  ministers  of  our  Church, 
in  spite  of  every  eflbrt  to  shake  or  to  seduce  them,  remain  An 
unshrinking  and  undiminished  majority  in  defense  of  her  yi- 
olated  liberties,  on  the  other  hand,  the  public  are  her<iming 
more  alive  every  day  to  a  sense  of  her  wrongs.  S«  thai.  \tc- 
tween  a  resolved  clergy  and  an  attached  and  confiding  pcc»plc. 
let  us  hope,  with  the  blessing  of  God.  that  the  best  and  grcsl- 
est  of  our  national  institutes  will  yet  stand  its  ground  against 
all  the  attempts  which  have  been  made,  and  are  still  making. 
whether  to  vitiate  or  to  destroy  it. 

I  feel  that  I  can  not  estimate  too  highly  the  labors  of  your 
important  association  ;  and  do  hope  that,  under  your  inrturn.x» 
and  within  the  sphere  of  your  operations,  many  olhrrs  will 
arise  in  your  own  likeness,  and  be  instnimenU  in  lh«»  hand  of 
Providence  for  the  dirfiision  of  sound  infonu.ntion  and  nfhl 
views  of  our  question,  both  in  the  West  and  thrt^ughout  the 
whole  of  Scotland 


374  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

On  the  subject  of  patronage,  I  had  long  been  in  the  habit 
of  regarding  it  as  practicable  to  harmonize  her  initiative  voice 
in  the  appointment  of  a  minister  with  the  sacred  prerogatives 
of  conscience,  and  the  deference  I  have  ever  held  due  to  the 
collective  voice  of  every  honest  and  religious,  however  hum- 
ble a  congregation.  The  experience  of  so  many  fruitless  and 
fatiguing  negotiations  have  now  wearied  me  out,  and  forced 
both  myself  and  many  others  to  desist  from  this  as  a  vain 
and  hopeless  enterprise.  The  reported  attempts  of  patrons 
to  tamper  with  the  principles  of  our  young  licentiates  on 
their  entrance  into  the  ministry,  and  so  instill  a  deadly  poison 
into  the  very  fountain-heads  of  the  nation's  morality,  have 
now  completed  my  antipathy  to  the  whole  system,  and  led 
me  to  the  conviction  that  it  were  best,  both  for  the  Church 
and  the  country  of  Scotland,  if  it  were  conclusively  put  an 
end  to.     I  have  the  honor  to  be,  dear  sir,  yours  most  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCCVIL— To  Alex.  Campbell,  Esq.,  M.P. 

Dtinkeld,  2M  April,  1842. 

My  dear  Sir — I  should  have  replied  sooner  to  your  kind 
note  of  more  than  a  week  ago.  Be  assured  that  the  delay 
does  not  proceed  from  any  indifference  to  your  proposed  move- 
ment, in  which  I  earnestly  pray  that  God  may  speed  and 
prosper  you  ;  and  I  further  hope  that  you  will  put  the  right 
interpretation  on  my  non-appearance  in  London  at  this  time. 
I  stand  much  in  need  of  repose,  and  I  have  come  here  to  re- 
cruit between  the  labors  of  my  class  and  the  meeting  of  the 
General  Assembly. 

You  are  aware  that  Lord  Lome  dislikes  the  anti-patronage 
movement  that  is  now  afloat,  and  seemed  to  regret  it  as  a  dis- 
turbing force  in  the  way  of  his  father's  bill.  Now,  were  I  a 
legislator  instead  of  an  ecclesiastic,  and  disliked  the  method 
of  popular  election,  I  should  be  disposed  to  reason  thus  :  The 
passing  of  such  a  bill,  it  is  needless  to  disguise,  would  slack- 
en, if  not  arrest,  the  Anti-patronage  movement,  even  as  the 


JOHN  C.  COLQUHOUN,  ESQ. 


veto  law  did  ;  and  this  is  a  consideration  which  should  loi 
only  stimulate  the  movement  ol'  such  a  lueaiurc,  but,  mora 
encouraging  still,  will,  in  all  likelihood,  euhst  others  to  iup> 
port  him,  on  purpose  to  avert  what  they  think  a  great  evil. 
In  my  eyes,  so  far  from  being  an  evil,  1  Wk  forward  to  ii  ai 
our  final  and  most  secure  landing-place;  but,  whether  yuu 
will  agree  with  me  in  this  or  not,  you  will  at  once  pcrrcivo 
that  this  anti-patronage  movement,  /aiV///  viewed,  should  be 
hailed  as  an  auxiliary,  and  looked  upon  not  ah  a  couHictinif 
but  as  a  conspiring  force  upon  your  side,  and  all  this  with- 
out prejudice  to  the  opinion  of ,  an  opinion  which  1  my- 
self expressed  in  my  correspondence  with  Lord  Aberdeen,  that 
the  obtimum  of  this  matter  were  a  Church  who»e  miiutteiB 
were  paid  by  the  state  and  chosen  by  the  people. 

I  am  most  thankful,  and  I  am  sure  that  in  this  I  am  lym- 
pathized  with  by  thousands,  for  the  true  Christian  painolum 
of  your  eflbrts  on  the  side  of  the  Church's  independeuc*,  and 
enlargement  out  of  her  present  ditliculties.  Ever  belu-vc  me, 
&c.,  Thomas  Cual.mers. 

No.  CCCVIII— To  John  C.  Colquhoun,  Esq. 

1A42. 

My  DEAR  Sir— I  yesterday  saw  your  letter  to  Mr  Ham- 
ilton. You  wish  the  Ciiurch  to  declare  publicly  thai  it 
would  be  satisfied  with  the  liberum  arbUrtuvi  Should  il 
not  be  enough  for  legislators  to  know  that  ihi»  ii  thr  low- 
est measure  under  which  the  great  proportion  of  our  derpy. 
I  hope  the  majority,  could  conscientiously  mmi.icn  in  ih« 
Church  as  an  Establishment?  We  can  Bol  wy  Diorc  a»d 
for  two  reasons;  first,  the  use  made  of  .uoh  a  dcclaralion  by 
our  unprincipled  enemres,  would  bc«  to  hold  forth  the  Lhurch 
to  the  country  as  having  abandoned  the  people.  ..t..l..'d  m  ith 
power  to  itself;  but  secondly,  and  chiefly,  it  u  -^^'■^^'^^ 
which  the  Church  could  not  honestly  m.k.^  to  mow- 
part,  I  should  greatly  prefer  .uch  j^^^'^^  "  i^^LlJl  1^ 
Mr.  Hamilton,  and  still  more  would  I  prefer  U-  WUi  •bob- 


376  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

tion  of  patronage;  yet,  for  the  sake  of  the  immense  benefit  to 
the  people,  which  is  conferred  by  an  Estabhshment  that  is  at 
all  tolerable,  I  would  keep  by  it  with  the  liberum  arbitrium 
alone,  determined,  at  the  same  time,  that  as  far  as  possible  this 
said  liberum  arbitrium  should  be  so  exercised  in  every  one 
instance,  as  that  no  minister  should  in  any  case  be  intruded 
on  a  parish  contrary  to  the  will  of  the  congregation. 

For  what  purpose  should  more  be  required  of  us  than  this  ? 
Is  it  that  the  odium  of  having  sacrificed  the  people  should 
be  shuffled  off  by  members  of  Parliament  and  laid  upon  the 
Church  ?  Let  each  party  bear  their  own  burden  ;  and  I  for 
one  am  very  glad  that  an  alternative  between  the  liberum 
arbitrium  and  the  popular  dissent  should  be  left  with  the 
Legislature.  Our  unequivocal  preference  is  for  the  latter.  If 
their  preference  is  for  the  former,  let  this  be  brought  above 
boards,  that  the  public  may  estimate  at  its  real  value  the 
profession,  not  of  Liberals  only,  but  of  all  denominations.  I 
rejoice  to  think  that  our  majorities  promise  to  be  unbroken, 
and  that  the  modern  fines  and  rebukes  of  the  Court  of  Session 
will  tell  about  as  little  on  our  noble-hearted  Church,  as  did 
the  boots  and  halters  and  thumb-screws  of  their  worthy  pred- 
ecessors before  them.     I  am,  yours,  &c., 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCCIX. — To  Alexander  Gordon,  Esq.,  London. 

Edinburgh,  Zd  January^  1843. 

My  dear  Sir — It  is  my  earnest  and  anxious  desire  that 
you  may  not  be  annoyed  after  so  much  trouble,  if  I  frankly 
state  to  you  the  difficulties  which  I  feel  in  complying  with 
the  requisition  by  which  I  have  been  so  much  honored,  and 
that,  too,  at  the  hands  of  so  many  high  and  estimable  men. 
My  greatest  objection  lies  in  this,  that  it  is  more  of  a 
Scotch  than  of  an  English  or  London  requisition.  I  would 
not  like  to  lecture  in  London  because  I  was  set  to  it  by  people 
here,  but  because  I  was  drawn  to  it  by  people  there  ;  what 
would  be  influential  with  me  were  a  requisition  sufficiently 


ALEXANDER  GORDON,  ESQ. 


numerous,  and  the  more  so  the  better,  by  men  of  courvj  po*. 
sessinrr  weight  in  society,  but  still  by  men  dcbirouB  of  tuch 
lectures  for  themselves,  and  that  because  they  really  want  to 
become  informed  on  the  subject  of  them.  It  is  with  ihii 
view  that  I  should  defer  more  to  a  requisition  gigned  by  lit- 
erary  and  ecclesiastical  than  by  merely  ofhcial  men.  To 
make  plain  my  meaning,  I  would  lay  greater  slrew  on  iny 
one  of  such  names  as  those  of  James  Hamilton,  or  Isaac  Tay- 
lor, or  Joseph  Bunting,  or  Christopher  Henson,  or  Hallani.  or 
Thomas  Cailyle,  &c.,  Ace,  than  for  any  half  dozen  membcrt 
of  Parliament,  merely  as  such.  I  do  not  say  tliiH  to  the  dia- 
paragernent  of  those  few  who  have  suLscribed  your  requisi- 
tion ;  for,  apart  from  their  situation,  1  can  recognize  some  of 
great  mental  power  and  great  Christian  worth  among  ihem. 
But  I  want  to  make  it  plain  to  you  that  the  chief  recom- 
mendation of  names  in  my  eyes  would  be,  that  they  were 
such  names  as  afforded  a  sufficient  guarantee  ior  a  desirous 
and  inteUigent  audience.  In  this  view,  such  names  as  those 
of  William  Hamilton  and  Alexander  Cidlespie — and  first  and 
foremost  of  all,  allow  me  to  specify  your  own — are  to  me  of 
far  greater  influence  than  the  names  of  hundreds  at  a  dis- 
tance from  London  ;  neither  do  I  see  that  there  is  any  virtu* 
in  the  names  of  whole  corporations,  such  as  kirkscssions  and 
others.  The  most  powerful  of  all  requisitions  were  one  sub- 
scribed by  respectable  citizens,  among  whom  ont*  could  dis- 
cern men  of  literature,  and  ecclesiastics  of  all  denominations. 
And  then,  as  to  our  Church  question,  I  should  like  )-ou  lo 
know  how  very  little  desirous  I  am  of  enlightening  mere 
statesmen  and  politicians  on  the  subject.  After  the  n;p<?alrd 
disappointments  of  the  years  that  are  past,  it  is  very  nslural 
for  statesmen  to  magnify 'their  office,  and  to  imagine  that  all 
which  is  said  or  done  bears  a  reference  to  them.  The  tnilh 
is,  that  in  all  my  future  treatment  of  these  topirs.  my  con- 
verse will  be  with  secular  and  Christian  philanthmpuU  rath- 
er than  with  statesmen  ;  indeed.  I  would  shrink  from  a  po- 
sition or  character  which  I  should  feci  so  utlrrly  grviem^m 


378  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

as  that  of  an  expedition  to  London  for  the  purpose  of  school- 
ing the  Parliament  ;  and  for  doing  away  every  aspect  of 
aught  so  ridiculous,  I  feel  relieved,  as  if  by  the  removal  of  an 
obstacle  in  the  way,  by  the  recent  deed  of  our  Convocation, 
which  will  probably  bring  our  whole  matter  to  an  issue  be- 
fore I  can  possibly  go  to  London,  which  certainly  can  not  be 
sooner  than  the  month  of  April ;  and  if  I  do  go,  it  will  be  for 
the  purpose  of  addressing  those  who  take  an  intellectual  or 
Christian  interest  in  the  grave  ecclesiastical  question.  The 
doings  and  state  of  the  Church  of  Scotland  may  supply  pref- 
ace and  illustrations  for  my  argument,  but  it  will  be  an  ar- 
gument not  intended,  not  perhaps  fitted  for,  the  apprehension 
of  statesmen,  but  which,  with  the  blessing  of  God,  might 
serve,  in  these  extraordinary  times,  to  unite  and  direct  the 
energies  of  those  who  have  the  Christian  good  of  our  people 
at  heart,  and  who,  either  with  or  without  establishments,  are 
ready  to  co-operate  in  whatever  might  best  conduce  to  the 
spread  of  truth  and  righteousness  in  our  land. 

Let  me  entreat  that  you  will  take  no  more  trouble  in  this 
matter.  Forgive  all  that  may  appear  harsh  or  ungrateful  to 
you  in  this  letter.  If  I  do  go  to  London,  it  can  only  be  on  a 
very  clear  and  imperative  call  of  duty,  for  all  my  personal 
tastes  and  inclinations  would  forbid  the  movement — a  move- 
ment, therefore,  which  would  require  a  much  louder  call,  and 
a  much  clearer  and  opener  path  than  I  yet  see  before  me.  I 
can  not  let  this  letter  go  without  expressing  the  high  esteem 
and  value  in  which  I  hold  such  names  as  those  of  Sir  John 
Pirrie  and  Mr.  Plumptre.  With  kindest  regards  to  Mrs. 
Gordon  and  your  family,  I  ever  am,  &c., 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCCX. — To  Alexander  Gordon,  Esq. 

Edinburgh,  2d  February^  1843. 
My  dear  Sir — Your  requisition  has  now  assumed  such  a 
shape,  both  in  its  substance  and  in  the  signatures  which  are 
appended  to  it,  that  I  am  now  greatly  more  disposed  to  enter- 


ALEXANDER  GORDON,  ESQ. 


tain  it  than  I  was  at  the  earher  stages  of  our  corrc»pondt 
on  the  subject. 

You  are  aware  that  I  have  all  along  deprecaU?*!  llie  idea 
of  a  lectureship  in  London  on  the  Scottish  Churclj  qiu'ttiun, 
and  that  from  the  very  first  I  have  shrunk  from  the  iwsmbil- 
ity  of  any  such  construction  being  put  on  :u\\  such  ieoturc- 
ships  being  delivered  there,  as  a  presumptuous  and  futile  at- 
tempt to  influence  the  decision  of  that  question  ;  aud  the 
question  had  not  commenced,  at  least  so  as  to  attract  public 
notice,  when  I  delivered  my  lectures  m  1^3^  on  naUonal  es- 
tablishments of  religion,  and  the  proposed  supplcmcnl  to  thcM 
will  naturally  partake  of  the  same  general  character,  bciug 
intended  for  an  audience  not  of  statesmen  but  of  scJioiars, 
who  take  a  literary  or  professional  interest  in  the  subject — 
a  subject  of  paramount  importance,  and  which  will  oullaat 
all  the  fluctuations  of  this  world's  restless  politics. 

I  feel  the  utmost  possible  respect  both  for  the  noble  and  par- 
liamentary requisitionists  whose  names  were  in  the  firut  pre- 
sentation, transmitted  some  weeks  ago,  but  not  without  th« 
apprehension  that  the  very  appearance  of  these  should  fo»trr 
an  erroneous  notion  of  the  real  design  and  character  of  the 
proposed  undertaking.  They  are  the  literary  and  ecclcaiat- 
tical  names,  both  in  the  first  and  subsequent  prc«»ntaUoni. 
which  have  decided  me  in  its  favor,  and  i  now  look  forward 
in  good  earnest  to  the  probability  of  my  sooner  or  later  visit- 
ing your  metropolis  for  the  fulfilling  of  the  Xnhk  whicli  you 
have  put  into  my  hands. 

But  lest  in  any  quarter  there  should  be  a  lurking  exp«o> 
tation  of  my  appearance  there  either  before  or  during  ihc  dia- 
cussion  of  our  Church  question  in  Parliament,  if  I  me  ilaU. 
once  for  all,  that  I  can  not  possibly  attempt  Uic  deliver)-  of 
these  lectures  till  the  month  of  June,  or  after  the  ri»in^  of 
our  General  Assembly,  by  which  tune  it  is  to  be  hoped  thai 
the  decision  of  the  Legislature,  whatever  that  may  U-.  «•  Xh* 
wronas  complained  of  by  the  ScotUsh  Church  will  U  »o 
longer  a  matter  of  anticipation,  but  a  matter  of  hitU>ry. 


380  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


I  regret  that  I  can  only  yet  hold  out  a  conditional  prom- 
ise of  complying  with  the  request  by  which  you  and  the  oth- 
er requisitionists  have  honored  me,  and  I  fear  that  a  whole 
month  must  elapse  ere  I  can  venture  on  a  definite  reply. 
Ever  believe  me,  my  dear  sir,  yours  with  greatest  esteem  and 
regard,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCCXI. — To  Alexander  Gordon,  Esq. 

Edinburgh,  March,  1843. 

My  dear  Sir — Referring  to  my  letter  at  the  beginning  of 
last  month,  I  beg  now  to  state,  that  the  idea  of  my  lecture- 
ship in  London  on  the  subject  specified  in  our  recent  corre- 
spondence must,  for  a  time  at  least,  be  abandoned. 

The  prospect  of  a  disruption  in  our  Establishment  has  led 
to  the  formation  of  a  financial  committee  for  the  support  and 
extension  of  the  Free  Presbyterian  Church  in  Scotland.  Of 
this  committee  I  have  been  appointed  convener,  and  the  im- 
portance, as  well  as  weight  and  labors  of  the  consequent  du- 
ties, must  detain  me  in  Scotland  for  several  months  to  come. 
I  feel  assured  that  after  the  turbulence  of  party  passions  has 
subsided,  the  Church  of  Scotland  will  be  found,  from  first  to 
last,  to  have  acted  a  consistent  part  throughout  all  the  stages 
of  this  controversy. 

The  call  or  concurrence  by  the  people  in  the  appointment 
of  ministers  has  ever  been  the  integral  part  of  our  constitu- 
tion. When  the  method  she  laid  down  some  years  ago  for 
regulating  this  part  of  our  procedure  was  litigated  before  the 
civil  courts,  she  made  appearance  for  no  other  purpose  than 
to  prevent,  if  possible,  a  separation  of  the  temporalities  from 
the  cure.  In  this  she  failed,  as  she  had  often  done  in  former 
questions  of  disputed  settlements  brought  before  the  civil  tri- 
bunal, and  was  prepared  to  undergo  all  the  consequences 
which  had  ever  followed  on  any  adverse  decision — that  is,  a 
forfeiture  of  the  benefice.  It  is  the  first  time  since  the  Rev- 
olution that  other  consequences  have  been  made  to  follow, 
that  orders  are  issued  forth  on  our  Church  by  the  civil  courts 


ALEXANDER  GORDON,  ESQ. 


asi 


for  the  doing  of  ecclesiastical  acts,  so  that  we  at  their  bidding. 
and  by  the  enforcement  too  of  pains  and  iKM.alticK.  iniiHl  pro^ 
ceed  in  the  ordination  of  ministers,  to  eslabhi^h  the  pasloral  re- 
lation between  them  and  their  people,  however  much  we  might 
deem  the  step  we  shonld  be  thus  compelled  to  take  contrary 
to  the  principles  of  the  word  of  God,  and  to  the  Chriilian 
good  of  parishes.     At  no  staffe  have  we  resisted  the  law. 

When  the  first  adverse  decision  of  the  Court  of  Session  wai 
appealed  to  the  House  of  Lords,  and  confirmed  there,  we  con- 
formed to  that  decision  to  the  extent  of  all  which  had  ever 
followed  on  similar  adverse  decisions.  "VVe  re»ij»ned  the  tem- 
poralities ;  but  more  than  this  was  required  of  us,  and,  for  the 
first  time  since  the  Revolution  Settlement,  an  interdict  waa 
by  the  Court  of  Session  laid  across  the  path  of  one  of  our  Prea- 
byteries  when  engaged  in  prosecuting  the  trials  of  one  of  our 
licentiates  with  a  view  to  his  ordination.  It  is  true  that  be- 
sides this,  such  trials,  when  there  is  no  legal  question,  are  in 
general  preparatory  to  the  immediate  entrance  on  the  living 
and  the  cure.  But  the  effect  of  such  a  question  in  all  pait 
instances,  when  given  against  us,  was  only  to  dissever  tho 
living,  and  never  to  intermeddle  in  any  way  cither  with  the 
ordination  or  the  cure.  It  was  for  the  first  time  in  the  hia- 
tory  of  our  Church  that  this  distinction  had  been  violated,  in- 
somuch that  it  was  ielt  to  be  an  outrage  by  the  unanimoui 
Commission  of  the  General  Assembly,  where  there  were  men 
of  all  ecclesiastical  parties,  although  since  then  a  party  hat 
been  found  to  acquiesce,  not  only  in  thia.  but  in  all  the  aub- 
sequent  and  still  larger  excesses  of  the  Court  of  Seaaion.  which 
now  claims  the  power  of  taking  our  whole  discipline  and  gov- 
crnment  in  its  own  hands.  The  challenge  has  been  made 
by  one  of  their  own  nuniber  to  tell  what  the  inch  of  gmund 
is  on  which  the  Church  of  Scotland  has  now  a  free  jonadic- 
tion,  or  to  specify  a  single  question  wherewith  the  Court  of 
Session  might  not  intermeddle  so  as  to  bring  the  Churrb.  erro 
in  things  of  the  most  exclusively  sacred  and  ipintual  ciur- 
acter,  under  its  own  absolute  control. 


382  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


To  be  protected  from  this  altogether  novel  invasion  by  the 
Court  of  Session,  we  made  another  appeal  to  the  House  of 
Lords  in  the  case  of  Auchterarder,  and  they  have  again  con- 
firmed this  second  and  distinct  adverse  sentence  of  the  infe- 
rior court.  It  is  only  now  that  we  can  be  charged  with  re- 
sistance to  the  law  should  we  abide  in  the  Establishment, 
and  refuse  obedience  to  this  new  usurpation.  Rather  than 
incur  the  charge,  we  choose  to  quit  a  territory  where  such 
disobedience  can  be  alleged  against  us.  For  our  carrying 
this  determination  into  effect,  two  steps,  we  conceive,  have  to 
be  taken — the  first  is  the  appeal  to  the  Legislature,  not  to  re- 
verse the  decision  of  the  House  of  Lords,  that  we  know  to  be 
incompetent,  but  to  modify  or  remove  the  solitary  statute  pass- 
ed many  years  subsequent  to  the  settlement  of  Presbytery, 
and  now  discovered,  for  the  first  time,  to  conflict  with  the  con- 
stitutional acts  by  which,  both  at  the  Revolution  of  1688,  and 
at  the  union  between  the  two  states,  the  liberties  of  the  Scot- 
tish Church  were  by  solemn  treaty  granted  and  secured  to 
the  Scottish  nation.  The  acts  on  which  we  have  all  along 
rested  our  security  were  not  once  looked  at  and  referred  to  in 
the  House  of  Lords,  and  in  the  House  of  Commons  the  only 
treatment  bestowed  upon  them  is  that  the  principles  which 
they  embody  —  though  recognized  and  ratified  by  their  own 
predecessors  in  the  legislation  of  other  days  —  are  now  de- 
nounced as  monstrous  and  intolerable  ;  meanwhile  there  has 
been  no  change  in  the  claims  or  pretensions  of  the  Scottish 
Church,  the  only  change  which  has  taken  place  is  in  the 
principles  and  will  of  the  English  Parliament. 

Our  appeal  to  the  Church's  constitution  having  thus  been 
defeated,  there  remains  but  one  other  appeal  more,  that  is  to 
the  Church's  conscience — even  that  resolute  and  unswerving 
conscience,  which,  after  the  struggles  of  more  than  a  century, 
won  for  us  our  ecclesiastical  constitution,  which  still  is  vigor- 
ous and  entire  as  ever,  now  that  the  constitution  of  our  Es- 
tablishment has  been  destroyed.  We  can  no  more  acquiesce 
at  this  day  in  the  power  of  the  state  over  things  spiritual,  than 


ALEXANDER  GORDON,  ESQ 


we  did  in  the  seventeenth  century.     It  is  true  that  the  mom 

government  which  is  pleased  at  the  change  which  hai  bc^n 
efiected  in  the  conditions  on  which,  as  a  JN'alional  Church, 
we  obtained  our  sup})ort,  might  also  change  the  conditjont  oa 
which  all  churches  whatever  now  enjoy  lljeir  toleration  ; 
but  even  this  will  not  move  us.  We  can  no  more  yield  to 
the  Peers  of  England  their  maxim  that  the  Church  is  the 
creature  of  the  state,  than  wc  can  consent  to  the  dogma  of 
one  of  their  own  philosophers,  that  morality  i»  thf  creal.iro 
of  law — the  one  is  Hobbism  in  Ethics,  the  other  is  the  Hob- 
bism  of  Christianity  :  both  are  alike  abhorrent  to  us.  In  a 
few  short  weeks  the  renunciation  of  our  connection  with  lh« 
state  will  take  place  by  the  deed  of  the  Cieneral  AsHMnbly. 

I  once  intended,  but  now  give  it  up  as  a  hojK-lefts  and  un- 
availing task,  to  touch  both  on  the  misstatement  of  our  prin- 
ciples and  the  glaring  misrepresentations  of  fact,  whirh,  m 
the  matter  of  our  Church  question,  have  so  blmded  and  be- 
wildered the  English  understanding.  All  this  has  now  f^one 
by,  while  the  general  question  of  the  footing  on  which  a  Na- 
tional Establishment  of  religion  might  be  uphold,  or  of  the 
harmony  which  I  hold  to  be  the  possible,  nay.  the  mont  easy 
and  practicable  harmony  of  the  legal  provision,  on  the  one 
hand,  with  the  liberties  of  the  Christian  Church  u|K>n  the 
other— this  question,  so  far  from  losing  Us  interest,  has  only 
now  risen  to  the  importance  which  it  never  had  before  Lei 
us  hope  that,  with  the  blessing  of  (iod.  events  will  at  length 
open  mens  eyes,  and  work  out  what  all  reroonstrance  and 
all  argument  have  failed  to  efiect.     1  have  the  honor  to  be.  Ate 

TllOIlAS    ClIALMKa*. 

No.  CCCXIL— f  o  Alexander  Gordoji,  Esq. 

EDi?«sr«oii.  17r*  Mf.  IM» 
My  dear  Sir-I  have  now  left  Dunkeld.     Your  Mt^r  of 
the  nth  has  given  me  inexpressible  rel.el  ;  fi^r.  per»nn»Uy. 
have  no  wish  but  the  contrary  to  be  .n  L<>n.lon,  ami  w,lho«t 
a  very  clear  and  imperiou..  call  of  duty  I  would  rather  not  .n- 


384  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

cur  the  fatigues  and  the  hazards  of  a  lectureship  there,  how- 
ever brief  At  the  same  time,  I  think  it  likely  that  the  gen- 
tlemen whom  you  have  consulted  have  misunderstood  both 
your  object  and  also  my  own  views  and  inclinations.  I  nev- 
er would  have  thought  of  lecturing  in  London  till  after  the 
determination  of  our  question  by  the  Legislature.  I  could  not 
have  prevailed  on  myself  to  do  so  before  it,  and  would  have 
recoiled  from  the  semblance  of  aught  so  presumptuous  as  that 
of  schooluig  the  Parliament.  My  idea  of  the  proper  time, 
if  ever  it  shall  come,  for  my  appearance  would  have  been  sub- 
sequent either  to  their  resolution  of  doing  nothing,  and  so  leav- 
ing us  to  our  present  struggles  with  the  Court  of  Session,  or 
to  their  resolution  of  passing  such  a  positive  and  obnoxious 
measure  as  would  have  forced  us  out  of  the  Establishment 
altogether.  On  either  of  which  events  I  should  have  felt  it 
desirable  to  harmonize  our  resistance  in  the  one  case,  or  our 
secession  in  the  other,  with  the  principles  which  I  advocated 
in  my  former  lectureship  on  the  lawfulness  and  expediency 
of  National  Churches  ;  and  such  would  have  been  the  sub- 
stance of  my  reply  to  any  requisition  had  it  been  now  made 
to  me,  so  that  the  only  present  effect  of  such  a  requisition 
would  have  been  to  manifest  the  interest  now  felt  in  London 
for  the  Scottish  Church — a  manifestation,  I  do  think,  fitted  to 
have  a  wholesome  influence  upon  government,  and  to  make 
them,  perhaps,  more  wary  in  their  attempts  to  crush  and  over- 
throw us.  I  am  even  hopeful  that,  through  your  interview 
with  Mr.  Campbell,  a  certain  amount  of  this  mediate  and  pre- 
cautionary influence  may  already  have  been  brought  to  bear 
upon  them  ;  let  us  hope  and  pray,  however,  that  any  move- 
ment on  my  part  will  be  superseded  by  an  act  of  justice  done 
to  the  Church  of  Scotland  ;  and  be  assured  that  with  no  part 
of  your  much-loved  letter  do  I  more  thoroughly  sympathize 
than  when,  devolving  the  cause  upon  God,  you  speak  of  wait- 
ing the  evolutions  of  His  wise  and  holy  providence.  I  ahi, 
my  dear  sir,  yours  affectionately,  Thomas  Chalmers. 


REV. 


No.  CCCXIIL— To  Rev 


EniNiuRtiH,  I9lh  March,  1H43 
Dear  Sir — Your  letter  has  given  me  great  pain— not  ihat 
I  see  a  difficulty  in  the  question  when  viewed  in  the  light  of 
my  own  conscience,  and  according  to  the  strength  of  my  own 
confidence  ;  but  I  do  feel  deeply  ior  the  distress  of  which  you 
have  presented  me  with  so  aflecting  a  piclin-e,  and  in  par- 

ticular  my  heart  bleeds  for  poor  Mrs. ,  whose  fear»  are 

so  very  natural,  and  must  be  so  ver)-  distracting  to  her  «piriu. 
Sufier  me  first  to  address  myself  to  the  question  an  one  of 
conscience,  which  I  do  the  more  readily  because  you  8|k-ak  of 
your  own  misgivings  on  this  score,  when  you  think  of  iho 
rightful  claims  which  your  creditors  have  to  whatever  might 
belong  to  you.  Do  not  suspect  me  of  sitting  in  judgment 
upon  another  man's  conscience  (1  Cor.,  x.,  29),  but  sufier  me 
to  state  my  own  views.  If  I  were  compelled  to  abandon  my 
stipend  by  that  highest  of  all  necessities  (the  necessity  of 
principle),  then  I  should  not  look  upon  it  as  a  thing  which  be- 
longed to  me,  and  that  morally  I  was  not  more  re»jx)n»ible  to 
my  creditors  for  it  than  if  it  had  been  wrc«ted  from  mo  by 
the  hand  of  violence. 

And,  second,  as  to  the  strength  of  my  confidence,  I  will  not 
rest  it  on  any  other  foundation  than  the  promise  of  (tod.  If 
we  go  fearlessly  on  in  the  way  of  duty  He  will  make  gtMxl 
His  own  declaration,  that  "  as  the  day  comes,  the  provision 
will  come."  He  will  not  forsake  the  families  of  those  who 
put  their  trust  in  Him.  He  hath  said  to  such,  "  I  will  never 
leave  you  nor  forsake  you."  So  that  we  may  boldly  say,  the 
Lord  is  my  helper,  and  I  will  not  fear  what  men  can  do  to 
me.  I  w  ill  not  at  present  speak  of  our  prospect*  I  would 
not  run  the  hazard  of  misleading  you  by  presenting  you  with 
any  calculations  whatever  upon  these.  I  can  only  ssy  thai 
the  impressive  representation  which  you  have  tet  brfore  me 
will  make  me  all  the  more  strenuous  in  behalf  of  our  general 
fund  for  the  support  of  the  Free  Church,  bciicnng.  aa  I  do, 
V.  R 


386  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

that  many,  very  many  are  our  faithful  clergy  with  whom  it 
will  form  their  main  earthly  dependence  in  this  matter.  I 
have  had  much  to  encourage  me,  and  feel  assured  that,  under 
God,  if  the  friends  of  our  Church  will  give  it  what  they  might 
and  what  they  ought,  we  shall  not  only  make  out  a  moderate 
competency  for  all  the  disestablished  ministers,  but  be  ena- 
bled to  extend  over  the  whole  of  Scotland  the  blessings  of  a 
Christian  education.  I  enter  fully  into  the  expression  of  your 
being  paralyzed  and  unable  to  do  aught  for  us  in  your  own 
parish.  However  much  we  value  the  active  co-operation  of 
the  minister,  yet  it  is  not  indispensable  to  the  establishment 
of  a  local  association.  We  are  setting  up  these  even  in  par- 
ishes where  ministers  are  hostile  ;  and  it  will  be  far  more 
practicable  in  cases  such  as  yours  where  they  are  friendly.  I 
am,  my  dear  sir,  yours  most  truly,        Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCCXIV.— To  THE  Same. 

Edinburgh,  20th  March,  1843. 

My  dear  Sir — I  submitted  your  letters  to  one  of  the  lead- 
ing men  in  Edinburgh,  and  will  not  show  them  to  any  more, 
as  I  do  not  think  that  any  other  conclusion  can  be  come  to 
than  what  he  and  I  agreed  upon.  You  are  quite  right  in  sup- 
posing that  others,  in  this  season  of  toil,  will  be  placed  in  cir- 
cumstances of  great  and  peculiar  difficulty  ;  and  accordingly 
a  representation,  similar  to  your  own,  was  sent  to  me  yester- 
day. 1  doubt  not  there  will  be  more ;  and  the  just  effect  of 
them  ail  is  (in  the  utter  hopelessness  of  doing  much,  if  any 
thing,  in  the  way  of  special  adaptation  of  our  means  to  spe- 
cial cases)  to  stimulate  our  utmost  endeavors  for  making  good 
the  general  fund,  that,  supplemented  by  the  separate  efforts 
of  each  congregation,  might  lighten,  and,  if  so  be,  do  away 
the  privations  consequent  on  the  surrender  of  our  present 
temporalities. 

The  number  of  our  associations,  I  am  happy  to  say,  has 
now  reached  four  hundred  and  five  ;  and  it  is  our  earnest 
desire  that  no  parish,  however  th©  minister  might  stand  affect- 


ANDREW  JOHNSTON,  ESQ. 


ed,  shall  be  without  one.  But  human  helps  will  prove  a  vaia 
and  impious  reliance  without  a  sinplt-mindca  depeudeuce  un 
Him  who  can  make  all  things  work  toselhcT  lor  our  pood 
I  will  not  let  go  my  confidence  that  He  will  make  all  to 
emerge  in  the  good  of  His  Church,  and  in  a  surpa^si.ip  com- 
pensation to  the  faithful  adherents  of  His  cause  lor  all  ilit-jr 
relinquishments  and  all  their  losses.      I  beg  my  best  r.-irar.lh 

and  sympathies  to  xMrs. ;  and,  in  the  earnest  hope  that 

God  will  clear  up  a  way  of  comfort  both  lor  yourself  and  your 
family,  I  ever  am,  my  dear  sir,  yours  most  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers 

No.  CCCXV. — To  Andrew  Johnston,  Esq. 

EuiNm-RciM,  '20th  .Iprxl,  1843. 

My  dear  Sir — I  return  you  many  thanks  lor  your  munifi- 
cent and  truly  encouraging  donation  ol  £100  for  our  Vrm 
Church.  You  say  in  aid  of  the  New  Endowment  Scheme 
Unless  you  forbid  me,  I  will  assign  it  to  the  Build inp  Fund  ; 
as  in  the  first  instance  we  shall  chiofiy  look  to  the  yearly  prod- 
uce of  our  subscriptions  and  associations  lor  the  sustentation 
of  the  ministry.  These  associations  now  amount  to  four  hun- 
dred and  five,  and  with  the  fair  prospect  of  benig  doubled  in 
the  course  of  the  summer. 

In  regard  to  your  important  suggestions,  it  i«  very  oeitain 
that  both  the  government  sanction  of  our  veto  and  the  qvMa't 
oath  of  protection  to  our  constitutional  rights  hare  born  much 
insisted  on  in  the  course  both  of  our  debates  at  home  and  of 
our  correspondence  with  London.  1  do  not  sec  that  any  far- 
ther delay  should  be  incurred  for  the  sake  of  a  formal  rc«tat«»- 
ment  of  these,  more  especially  as  we  are  now  declared,  both 
by  the  legal  courts  and  by  Parliament,  to  be  on  the  ground  of 
rebellion  against  the  law,  if  we  do  not  implement  iheir  d«^i- 
sions  in  every  such  spiritual  matter  as  they  might  choose  to 
take  under  their  cognizance  and  control.  The  •ooncr  we 
make  ourselves  ofi'from  that  ground  the  better 

Let  it  be  our  stay  and  our  confideno*  thai  Ui«  Lord  rofn- 


388  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

eth  ;  and  that  He  will  make  all  to  issue  in  the  extension  of 
His  Son's  kingdom,  and  the  establishment  of  His  own  glory. 

Perhaps  you  could  suggest  how  it  is  that  the  sympathy  and 
fellow-feeling  of  the  evangelical  public  in  England  could  be 
rendered  most  available  for  the  promotion  of  our  common 
cause  in  this  country. 

Remember  me  in  the  most  cordial  and  affectionate  man- 
ner to  dear  Mrs.  Johnston,  and  to  the  respected  families  of 
Sir  Thomas  F.  Buxton,  Mr.  Gurney,  and  Mr.  Hoare.  Ever 
believe  me,  my  dear  sir,  yours  most  gratefully  and  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers, 

No.  CCCXVI. — To  Andrew  Johnston,  Esq   " 

Edinburgh,  3d  May,  1843. 

My  dear  Sir — I  can  not  lay  my  hand  on  any  copy  of  the 
speech  to  which  you  refer ;  but  the  matter  respecting  which 
you  inquire  may  be  shortly  stated  thus  : 

I  never  doubted  the  perfect  competency  and  power  of  the 
Church  to  pass  the  veto  law,  and  the  obligation  under  which 
all  its  courts  lay  to  regulate  their  procedure  by  its  provisions. 
When  this  ecclesiastical  law  was  found  not  to  quadrate  with 
the  civil  law,  I  never  counted  on  any  other  effect  from  this 
want  of  harmony  than  the  forfeiture  of  the  temporalities  of 
the  benefice — in  itself  a  very  serious  evil.  To  avert  this  evil, 
I  recommended  the  repeal  of  the  veto,  but  in  conjunction  at 
the  same  time  with  the  condition,  vrhich  I  held  to  be  indis- 
pensable, that  the  Strathbogie  ministers  should  retrace  their 
steps,  for  that  it  was  of  prime  necessity  to  vindicate  the  au- 
thority of  the  Church  over  her  refractory  members.  These 
ministers,  instead  of  making  reparation  for  their  disobedience, 
proceeded  onward  in  their  course  to  the  ordination  of  Mr. 
Edwards,  for  which  glaring  outrage  they  were  most  righteous- 
ly deposed.  On  this  I  instantly  withdrew  my  recommend- 
ation, not  of  one  measure,  but  of  several  measures,  which  be- 
hooved to  stand  or  fall  together — to  be  adopted  or  rejected, 
not  singly,  but  simultaneously. 


REV.  WILLIAM  FINDLATER. 


It  was  in  deference  to  the  good  of  a  National  Establiih- 
ment,  or  of  a  legal  provision  for  the  clcrfry,  that  I  wished  to 
bring  our  law  into  accordance  with  the  law  of  the  sUtc. 
But  when  I  found  that  the  interpretation  put  on  my  propoMl 
was  that  I  deferred  to  the  legal  authority  of  the  state  in 
things  spiritual,  and  also  that  the  Strathbogie  ministers  pro- 
ceeded on  this  interpretation,  instead  of  submitting  to  the  di*- 
cipline  of  their  ecclesiastical  superiors,  I  gave  up  the  attempt 
to  secure  the  Establishment  principle  till  it  should  be  freed 
from  the  principle  of  Erastianism.  For  on  any  other  footmg 
than  that  of  entire  spiritual  independence,  I  should  hold  a 
National  Church  to  be  a  moral  nuisance. 

I  know  not  if  I  have  made  myself  intelligible.  Certain  it 
is  that  I  have  now  given  up  all  faith  in  the  ctliracy  of  ar- 
guments. It  is  by  deeds,  not  arguments,  that  the  truth  will 
become  manifest  at  last. 

You  will  be  delighted  to  hear  that  our  associations  for  the 
support  of  the  Free  Church  now  amount  to  five  hundred  and 
fourteen  ;  and  we  expect  by  the  time  of  the  (General  Amcih- 
bly  to  have  more  than  the  half  of  Scotland  organized. 

I  had  a  letter  this  morning  from  the  munificent  William 
Campbell,  of  Glasgow,  who  now  despairs  of  the  govcrnm««nl 
beino-  brought  to  reason  upon  our  question,  and  tenders  X2000 
for  our  Building  Fund. 

With  earnest  prayer  for  God's  beat  bletsinps  on  you  and 
yours,  ever  believe  me,  my  dear  sir,  yours  most  gratefully  and 

^j.yly  TUOMAS   CllALMKBJ*. 


[Durness  6y  Golspie,  20th  July,  1843.— My  vv.ak  Sir— Fphti  m^vit*! 
causes,  which  I  need  not  state  particularly,!  could  ool  |k..vI.1)  \c»m> 
the  manse  till  a  forinifrhi  arro— wailing  an  oppnriunily  <>(  o...vr».BC 
my  rurnituie  and  part  of  my  family  by  »ea,  fm.n  wat  ihr  jh.  rr.  ^ 
Cape  Wrath  to  Thurs*..  and  mv  wile  and  the  younurr  br«nrbr.  .^  ii** 
familv  bv  land,  being  a  distance  of  at  least  7(J  m.lc  ;  n..c  .  K.-«-  - 
hut  c"ouId  be  aot  nearer  f-.r  (heir  accommc.l«Uon  I  »'*^- J**;"  ' 
room  in  the  only  inn  in  the  district  where!  M  P-j-^^;^;^  ^"J^ 
midst  of  a  poor  and  afliicted  but  sympalhump  pr,.ple-«omo  c^  ^f^. 


390  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

I  trust,  have  been  taught  to  put  their  trast  in  the  Lord.  Hitherto  we 
have  met  together  to  worship  in  the  field,  and  we  have  no  prospect  at 
present  of  a  site  for  church  or  manse  from  our  noble  proprietor.  My 
feelings,  and  that  of  my  family,  on  leaving  the  manse,  after  a  happy  re- 
sidence of  thirty-one  years,  I  can  not  easily  describe.  Though  painful 
in  some  respects,  yet  I  trust  it  was  a  willing  sacrifice.  The  cause  is 
good  ;  Jehovah-jireh  is  a  strong  tower.  While  we  have  had  cause  to 
sow  in  tears,  may  we  reap  in  joy.  My  wife  was  born  in  the  same  manse 
she  lately  left  empty,  left  two  of  our  children's  dust  behind,  and,  ac- 
companied by  six,  all  hitherto  unprovided  for,  to  sojourn  among  strang- 
ers, has  displayed  a  moral  heroism  which  is  soothing  to  my  feelings. 
My  dear  and  honored  sir,  yours  very  truly,  Wm.  Findlater. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Chalmers,  Edinburgh.] 

No.  CCCXVIL— To  THE  Rev.  William  Findlater. 

Edinburgh,  30th  July,  1843. 
My  very  dear  Sir — I  received  your  deeply  interesting, 
and  let  me  add,  afiecting  letter  on  Friday,  and  the  same  day 
made  its  contents  known  to  Mr.  Dunlop,  who  is  Convener  of 
the  Distributing  Committee,  and  who  feels  on  the  subject  of 
your  application  precisely  as  I  do  ;  even  that  it  is  a  case 
which  must  be  instantly  attended  to  and  met.  I  hope  you 
will  suffer  no  inconvenience  from  the  delay  of  a  few  days,  as 
the  committee  does  not  meet  till  Friday  next,  when  I  am  sure 
that  your  proposal  will  on  the  instant  be  acceded  to  and  act- 
ed on. 

Though  siich  matters  do  not  fall  within  my  official  range, 
(mine  being  the  ingathering  rather  than  the  outgiving  de- 
partment), yet  I  beg  that  you  will  not  let  that  restrain  ahy 
future  communications  which  you  might  wish  to  make  to  me  ; 
for  I  shall  feel  it  quite  a  privilege  and  a  pleasure  to  attend 
to  them. 

Tell  dear  Mrs.  Findlater  how  my  heart  bled  at  the  repre- 
sentation of  the  departure  from  Durness,  and  from  the  house 
in  which  she  had  lived  from  her  birth.  May  she,  and  you, 
and  all  your  family  richly  experience  the  Savior's  promise, 
that  though  in  the  world  we  shall  have  tribulation,  in  Him 
we  shall  have  peace.  May  we  learn  to  sit  loose  to  a  world 
that  is  so  fast  loosening  from  our  hold ;  and  may  the  Giver 


PROFESSOR  SEDGWICK. 


ttl 


of  all  grace  fit  and  prepare  us  for  living  together  in  that  city 

which  hath  foundations,  and  where  sin,  and  sorrow,  ami  wpa- 
ration  are  unknown. 

You  will  be  pleased  to  hear  that  our  cause  is  progrcuing 
rapidly.  Indeed,  our  chief  pressure  now  arises  from  the  rapid- 
ly increasing  number  of  our  adhering  congregations.  Nev- 
ertheless, I  retain  the  unshaken  conli(ionc<.«,  that  with  Limit 
blessing  we  shall  be  enabled  to  build  up  all  and  provide  for 
all. 

Give  my  kindest  regards  to  Mrs.  Findlater,  and  with  earn- 
est prayers  for  Heaven's  best  blessings  upon  you  and  youn. 
ever  believe  me,  my  dear  sir,  yours  most  cordially  and  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCCXVIII. — To  Professor  Sedgwick,  of  Cambridge. 

Edinbirgh,  \6tk  Ma,(k,   1844. 

My  dear  Sir — I  take  it  exceedingly  kind  that  you  should 
have  bestowed  the  attentions  and  courtesies  which  you  have 
done  on  Dr.  Candlish. 

It  appears  very  clearly  to  me,  from  your  letter,  that  very 
strange  exaggerations  have  been  practiced  on  the  credulity 
of  those  at  a  distance  from  us  res{>ecting  the  violence  and  af- 
perity  of  our  Free  Churchmen.  I  live  in  the  ven.*  thick  oC 
the  controversy,  and  can  give  you  my  solemn  a*surance  that 
I  do  not  know  of  more  than  one  or  two  instance*  which  re- 
quire to  be  at  all  defended,  and  even  those  arc  of  a  character 
in  no  way  outrageous.  I  observe,  from  the  report  of  the  l^m- 
don  meeting,  that  I  myself  have  been  made  the  •ubjert  of  one 
of  those  misrepresentations,  and  may  therefore  be  regarded  aj 
an  evidence  at  first  hand  on  the  question  of  it*  justncM  and 
truth  ;  and  I  am  confident  you  will  give  me  credit  when  I 
tell  that  both  the  meaning  and  the  spirit  of  the  exprcwion 
which  has  been  imputed  to  me  have  been  altogether  rnifun- 
derstood  and  perverted.  The  truth  is.  that  we  are  &r  loo 
busy,  too  much  engrossed  with  our  own  weighty  affair*,  to  say 
much,  or  even  to  think  much  of  our  residuary  fncnds      I  am 


392  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

well-nigh  overborne  with  matters  which  engross  all  my  at- 
tention and  time,  having  had  no  less  than  two  hundred  and 
ten  students  at  our  theological  seminary,  and  of  these  a  num- 
ber of  first-year  attendants,  three  times  greater  than  I  had 
last  year  in  the  University  of  Edinburgh.  Such  is  the  im- 
pulse which  our  movement  has  given  to  the  ecclesiastical 
profession,  that  the  number  of  theological  students  preparing 
jfor  the  Free  Church  in  Edinburgh  alone  is  very  nearly  double 
the  number  preparing  for  the  Establishment  in  all  the  four 
universities  of  Scotland.  We  are  aware  all  the  while  that 
there  is  a  world  of  calumny  abroad  against  us,  and  our  best 
way  is  to  let  it  spend  its  force,  and  not  trouble  ourselves  ei- 
ther with  the  authors  who  originate  or  with  the  newspapers 
which  give  it  circulation.  "  We  are  doing  a  great  work, 
and  why  should  we  come  down  to  them  ?" 

I  must  not  attempt  in  this  letter  to  enter  into  detail  on 
that  very  voluminous  controversy  to  which  you  have  advert- 
ed, but  which,  at  the  same  time,  if  your  engagements  would 
allow  of  it,  is  altogether  worthy  of  your  studious  and  sus- 
tained attention,  involving  as  it  does  great  principles,  and 
leading  as  it  will  do  to  the  most  momentous  results.  I  shall 
undertake  no  more  at  present  than  fill  up  this  sheet  by  as 
succinct  and  synoptical  a  statement  as  I  can  possibly  give 
within  such  narrow  hmits  of  our  Scottish  Church  question. 
For  the  sake  of  brevity,  let  me  endeavor  to  present  you  with 
the  leading  points  in  numerical  order : 

1.  The  line  of  demarkation  between  the  civil  and  the 
ecclesiastical  was  a  great  topic  of  contention  between  the 
Church  and  the  State  in  Scotland  during  nearly  the  whole 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  which  at  length,  after  the  per- 
secutions and  the  martyrdoms  of  twenty-eight  years  of  the 
reigns  of  Charles  II.  and  James  II.,  was  terminated  by  the 
Revolution  Settlement. 

2.  By  this  settlement,  the  relation  in  which  the  Church 
and  the  State  stood  to  each  other  was  distinctly  and  defin- 

\  itely  laid  down.     It  forms,  in  fact,  the  great  charter  of  our 


PROFESSOR  SEDGWICK. 


constitutional  law  and  liberties,  and  was  solemnly  renewed 

and  ratified  by  the  articles  of  union  between  the  Iwu  king- 
doms. 

3.  By  this  charter  it  is  provided  that  the  government  of 
the  Church  is  distinct  from  that  of  the  civil  inajfistratf.  and 
the  final  jurisdiction  in  things  sj.irilual  was  vested  in  our 
ecclesiastical  courts.  But  ours  being  an  Established  Church, 
questions  occasionally  arose  which  involve  lein|x>ralilie8  along 
with  matters  ot  purely  ecclesiastical  government  ;  a«d  to  it 
was  further  provided  that,  where  on  those  question*  iho  de- 
cisions of  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  courts  conflicted  with 
each  other,  the  civil  decisions  should  infer  only  civil  cfl'ocU, 
and  the  ecclesiastical  only  ecclesiastical  ellects  ;  and  till  with- 
in these  few  years  nothing  was  of  more  familiar  tK^currfnco 
than  the  decisions  of  the  church  courts  taking  eliecl  an  to  all 
matters  of  discipline,  and  ordination,  and  church  govern- 
ment, and  the  contrary  decisions  of  the  law  courts  taking  ef- 
fect by  the  forfeiture  of  the  temporalities,  and  of  consequence 
the  separation  of  the  emoluments  from  the  duties  of  the  pas- 
toral office.  This  precluded  the  respective  powers  from  ever 
coming  into  collision,  while  they  operated  powerfully  and  oft- 
en wholesomely  as  a  check  upon  each  other. 

4.  In  1712,  or  twenty-two  years  after  the  Revoluli<»n  Set- 
tlement, and  five  years  after  the  union,  the  act  of  Uucen 
Anne,  for  the  restoration  of  patronage,  was  passed.  But  for 
more  than  a  century  after  this,  the  great  constitutional  pnn- 
ciple  of  the  separate  jurisdictions  of  the  two  sots  of  courts — 
the  civil  and  the  ecclesiastical — and  the  oonfiuemcnl  of  each 
within  their  own  proper  sphere,  was  observed  inviolable  Con- 
trary decisions  were  sometimes  given  on  the  same  question 
as  before,  but  still  the  minister,  when  the  ecclesiastical  court 
admitted  to  any  given  cure,  was  charged  with  all  its  dude*. 
though  if,  unfortunately,  as  it  occasionally  happened,  the  cinJ 
court  gave  a  decision  adverse  to  his  civil  rights  as  minisler. 
he  behooved  to  relinqui.<h  the  temporalities  of  the  ollicc. 

5.  And  not  till  within  these  three  or  four  years  haA  th« 

R  2 


394  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

discovery  been  made  that  the  act  of  Ctueen  Anne  did  envelop 
a  contradiction  to  the  principles  of  the  Revolution  Settlement 
and  the  articles  of  union  ;  a  discovery  which  ran  as  counter 
to  all  the  previous  conceptions  of  the  civilians  as  the  eccle- 
siastics in  this  country — and  upon  which  the  civil  courts  now 
do  what,  for  a  hundred  and  fifty  years,  they  had  never  offer- 
ed to  do — overrule  the  discipline,  and  ordinations,  and  all  the 
other  judgments  of  our  ecclesiastical  court ;  thus  taking  upon 
themselves  the  entire  government  of  the  Church  of  Scotland. 

6.  On  this  discovery  being  made,  an  application  came  from 
the  Church  to  the  Legislature — the  object  of  which  was  to 
remodel  that  one  law  so  as  to  bring  it  into  union  with  that 
prior  and  original  constitution,  upon  which  our  Church  en- 
tered into  union  with  the  state  in  1690,  and  Scotland  enter- 
ed into  union  with  England  in  1707.  It  was,  in  fact,  asking 
of  them  nothing  more  than  to  rectify  their  own  blunder,  so 
as  that  no  subsequent  act  of  theirs  should  be  suffered  to  vio- 
late the  prior  constitution  which  they  themselves  had  ratified. 

7.  The  application  to  Parhament  was  disregarded  ;  and 
when  the  Church  was  thus  defeated  in  her  attempts  to  ob- 
tain redress  on  the  ground  of  the  British  Constitution,  she  had 
no  other  choice  than  to  fall  back  on  the  ground  of  her  orig- 
inal principles,  appeal  to  her  own  conscience,  and  submit 
these  anew  to  the  decision  of  her  own  conscience— that  con- 
science which  bore  her  honorably  through  the  struggles  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  and  at  length  won  for  her  a  consti- 
tution in  which  she  could  acquiesce,  but  in  the  violation  of 
which  she  can  not  acquiesce  ;  and  so  she  relinquishes  her 
connection  with  the  state,  rather  than  submit  to  the  govern- 
ment of  the  civil  power  in  those  matters  which  she  deemed 
to  be  sacredly  and  peculiarly  her  own. 

Such  is  a  very  brief  outline  of  our  question,  and  I  have  it 
not  in  my  power  at  present  any  farther  to  extend  it.  Let  me 
only  say,  that  so  far  from  upholding  such  an  establishment  as 
that  which  I  have  renounced,  I,  in  every  pleading  for  the 
cause  of  national  churches,  made  an  express  reservation  in 


D.  MAITLAND  M.UCGIU.  CRICHTON,  ESQ 


S«8 


behalf  of  the  Church's  spiritual  libertie.,  which  h.re  now 
beea  scattered  to  the  winds.     I  would  have  b,:,.  .ZZ 
to  my  owu  prn.cples  had  I  remaiued  iu  au  cMaW.h.d  chur  h 
and  the  only  way  of  ful,i||,n„  ,he„,   was  to  co„,.  out    JLI 

among  them.  ^ 

Let  me  liirther  add,  that  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland  i. 
probab  y  domg  more  at  this  moment  for  the  eMablinhmonl 
pnnc.ple  than  any  other  church  or  communily  of  Chn.l.ani 
m  the  world.  We  have  pone  out  on  the  estahh^hment  prn.- 
ciple,  and  are  so  giving  thai  ,ninci,,le  all  the  wn^H.t  cf  a  di.- 
interested  testimony;  and  are  at  this  moment.  I  belu-ve  g.y. 
ing,  in  consequence,  the  utmost  disappointment  and  ofTenM.-  to 
many  of  the  voluntaries.  Had  we  remained  in  and  swallow- 
ed  all  the  humiliations  which  the  civil  jK^wer  hav  laid  and 
are  still  laying  on  the  skeleton  Establishment  of  Scotland  ihe 
principle  of  Establishments  would  have  been  ihorou^hly 
brought  into  utter  scorn  and  contempt,  and  the  triumph  of 
voluntaryism  would  have  been  complete.  I  am.  my  dear  lir. 
yours  truly.  Thcmas  Chalmem. 


No.  CCCXIX.— To  D.  M    M    CRicriTON.  Esq 

BiRNTisL.on,  16/A  ,1uftui,  1841. 

My  very  dear  Sir — I  mean  to  be  at  home  all  thii  we*k, 
with  the  exception  of  Friday,  and  also  to  be  at  home  on  Mon- 
day next  week.  If  God  will,  I  shall  be  in  Edinburj»h  on 
Tuesday  and  Wednesday. 

It  delights  me  to  observe  that  things  are  fast  apprr.i 
to  that  state  in  which  there  will  be  no  room  for  the  •!:- 
shade  of  a  diflerence  between  us.  I  long  to  see  you,  and  talk 
with  you  on  a  subject  upon  which  our  fnendt  are  not  partje 
ularly  ripe  —  I  mean  the  future  economics  of  our  Church. 
should  the  Legislature  be  so  infatuated  as  to  force  on  a  dia- 
ruption  from  the  Establishment. 

The  man   who  was  thought  a   Ktopian  wh^'u   he. 
years  ago,  predicted  X  10,000  a  year  for  church  extent 


396  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

and  afterward  realized  £50,000  a  year,  has  some  claim  to 
have  his  views  considered,  when  he  now,  with  far  greater 
confidence,  predicts,  with  the  blessing  of  God,  £100,000  a 
year  for  church  independence,  and  as  much  more  as  will  su- 
peradd the  building  of  churches  to  a  secure  maintenance  for 
one  and  all  of  our  Non-Erastian  clergymen. 

It  were  well  if  you  could  let  me  know  when  I  might  have 
the  pleasure  of  seeing  you.  I  ever  am,  my  dear  sir,  yours 
with  the  most  cordial  regard  and  esteem, 

THOMAS  Chalmers. 

No.  CCCXX.— To  D.  M.  M.  Crichton,  Esq. 

Edinburgh,  18th  February^  1842. 

My  very  dear  Sir — I  owe  you  many  apologies  for  having 
delayed  so  long  my  reply  to  your  letter  of  the  2d. 

Go  on  and  prosper,  my  dear  sir,  and  may  God  abundantly 
reward  your  labors  of  love.  Let  me  again  reiterate  what  I 
have  often  said,  had  we  twenty  laborers  like  you  there  would 
be  enough  of  instrumentahty  at  least  for  arousing  Scotland. 

With  best  wishes  for  you  and  yours,  I  ever  am,  my  dear 
sir,  yours  most  gratefully  and  truly,      Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCCXXL— To  George  Yule,  Esq. 

MoRNiNGsiDE,  9^^  June,  1843. 

Dear  Sir — I  am  at  present  so  much  engrossed  that  I  have 
not  had  time  to  reply  sooner  than  now  to  your  letter  of  the 
2d  of  this  month. 

For  more  than  twenty-five  years  now  I  have  studiously 
avoided  the  habit  of  attending  public  meetings  as  encroach- 
ments on  my  strength  and  time  which  I  could  not  well  bear  ; 
and  nothing  but  the  exigencies  of  our  Church  could  have  led 
me  to  take  that  part  in  them  which  I  have  recently  done. 

And  now,  with  my  decaying  vigor  and  my  increasing  en- 
gagements, I  am  in  far  less  favorable  circumstances  than  ever 
for  sharing  in  a  work  which  1  must  forthwith  leave  in  the 
hands  of  younger  and  abler  men. 


CAPTAIN  BURNETT. 


There  is  one  strong  temptation,  however,  to  atlcnd  one  or 
other  of  the  meetings  which  you  propose.  1  should  hke  tor 
once  to  dissipate  the  groundless  misunderstanding!  which 
still  linger,  I  fear,  in  the  minds  of  the  evangelical  I)is»onl<TB. 
as  if  there  were  ever  the  slightest  reluctance  cither  on  njy 
part,  or  on  the  part  of  those  who  think  along  with  nie,  to  co- 
operate with  them  in  all  good  works.  liut  there  are  two 
reasons  which  oblige  me  to  resist  even  this  inducement,  how- 
ever powerfully  it  operates  on  my  own  taste  and  inclinations  : 

1.  The  present  state  of  my  engagements,  along  with  a  tonM 
of  utter  exhaustion,  from  which  I  do  not  hope  to  recover  for 
some  weeks,  would  disable  me  from  doing  full  justice  to  my 
views. 

2.  An  opportunity  will  occur  in  the  month  of  July,  at  iho 
bicentenary  celebration  then  to  be  held  of  the  Westnuuiicr 
Assembly,  and  which,  I  trust,  will  be  attended  by  the  uiinis- 
ters  and  members  of  all  evangelical  denominations.  I  hope, 
in  particular,  that  Dr.  Wardlaw  will  return  good  for  evil,  and 
though  I  do  not  meet  with  him  now,  will  give  us  the  benefit 
of  his  presence  on  that  occasion. 

I  am  going  to  use  a  gr<?at  liberty  both  with  him  and  with 
Dr.  Winter  Hamilton.  Will  you  have  the  gooiliiess  to  »ay  to 
them  how  kind  I  should  take  it  if  they,  and  any  other  mem- 
bers of  the  deputation,  would  honor  me  so  far  as  breakfast 
with  me  any  morning  during  their  stay  in  Kdmburfh.  I 
am,  dear  sir,  yours  truly,  Tho.mas  Ciulmees 

No.  CCCXXII.— To  Captain  Birnett.  or  Monbuddo 

Banchory  Hoise.   \Oth  Srptfmher,  1H43 

My  dear  Sir— The  umbrella  came  safe  to  hand.  Ther« 
is  another  small  mattef  which  1  have  forgotten.  Mr  B  "s  ar- 
count  for  shoe-mending.  I  am  quite  a.shamed  that  you  should 
have  such  trouble  about  these  bagatelles  ;  and  yrt  ih.nr. 
small  in  material  amount  may  bo  great  in  principle.  -  He 
who  is  unfaithful  in  the  least  is  unfaithful  .ls<>  m  much 

But  what  most  impels  me  to  write  at  prr^rnt  is  to  Msur« 


398  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

you  of  the  delight  which  your  letter  has  given  me.  You  do 
me  no  more  than  justice  when  you  suppose  that  I  was  greatly 
moved  and  affected  at  the  time  of  our  separation.  I  can  truly 
say  that  no  place  and  no  people  have  taken  so  strong  a  hold 
both  of  my  memory  and  my  heart  as  your  own  Monboddo,  to 
which  I  shall  ever  look  back  as  I  would  to  a  much-loved 
home,  where  for  the  whole  of  a  happy  but  short-lived  week  I 
felt  myself  domesticated  in  the  midst  of  beauty  and  quietness, 
and,  above  all,  of  kind  affection — these  most  soothing  appli- 
ances to  the  mind  of  one  who  longs  for  retirement  from  the 
bustle  and  the  agitations  of  public  life.  But  I  must  not  for- 
get what  some  one  of  our  poets  says  of  the  transition  from 
loving  much  to  loving  wrong  ;  nor  so  fasten  my  regards  on 
your  dear  earthly  paradise,  as  to  withdraw  me  from  the  calls 
of  duty,  or  the  needful  preparations  for  that  home  in  the 
heavens,  where  sorrow  and  suffering,  and  best  of  all,  where 
sin  is  unknown,  and  where,  loving  each  other  with  pure  hearts 
fervently,  we  shall  be  enabled  to  serve  God  without  frailty, 
and  without  a  flaw.  '*' 

I  have  just  come  from  a  most  extraordinary  scene.  I  had 
given  Mr.  Thomson  the  hope  that  I  might  preach  at  his  tent 
in  Banchory.  He  chose  to  placard  this  over  all  Aberdeen  ; 
and  there  assembled  about  six  or  seven  thousand  people.  He 
got  the  pulpit  carried  from  the  tent  to  his  own  front  entry, 
and  I  have  preached  the  identical  sermon  to  them  that  I  did 
at  Auchinblae,  to  six  or  seven  thousand  people  assembled 
upon  his  lawn.  I  have  been  forcibly  reminded  of  the  last  de- 
licious Sabbath  in  your  place,  and  which  I  so  exceedingly  en- 
joyed after  the  service  was  over,  from  the  time  that  Mrs. 
Burnett  received  me  into  her  carriage,  and  throughout  the 
whole  of  that  evening,  when  I  was  so  much  regaled,  both  by 
my  own  solitary  walks  around  your  house,  and  at  the  return 
of  all  its  much- valued  inmates,  to  each  of  whom  individually, 
I  beg  again  to  offer  my  most  affectionate  regards.  Ever  be- 
lieve me,  my  very  dear  sir,  yours  with  the  greatest  respect 
and  regard,  Thomas  Chalmers. 


REV.  P.  HENDERSON. 


I'-S.— There  is  nothing  which  has  alUicted  ine  %o  much 
for  a  long  time  as  the  description  you  give,  both  of  your  own 
feelings  and  those  of  Mrs.  Burnett  at  the  lime  of  our  iwpara. 
tion.  Before  you  receive  this  I  shall  have  passed  the  Mill 
Inn  in  the  mail  for  Montrose,  and  will  look  to  it.s  door  wiih 
an  enhanced  interest.  Let  me  entreat  a  i)laco  iu  yours  and 
Mrs.  Burnett's  prayers,  that  Jesus  Ciirist  may  be  the  Lord  my 
strength  to  guide  and  guard  amid  the  fasciuationi  and  triajg 
of  an  evil  world.  May  Heaven's  best  blessings  a-st  upon  you 
both.  T.  C. 

No.  CCCXXIII. — To  Captain  Burnett,  or  Monboddo. 

'EvisvvKon.  2iii  Miirrh,  1H47 
My  dear  Sir. — There  is  a  most  entire  acconlanco  of  prin- 
ciple between  us  in  all  that  you  say  throughout  your  l&at  iimmI 
interesting  letter.  Drunkenness  is  the  great  masler-cYil  in 
our  land.  There  is  a  variety  started  lately  in  regard  to  tem- 
perance associations,  which,  I  think,  will  take  well  with 
many  who  recoil  somewhat  from  the  present  confltiliition  of 
them.  An  association  has  been  recently  formed  by  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Reid  here,  an  eloquent  and  zealous  tcctotaJK-r.  named 
a  Total  Abstinence  Association,  on  religious  principles,  and 
without  the  pledge.  It  hits  my  view  belter  than  did  iha 
former  system,  and  I  am  now  endeavoring  to  make  a  con- 
science of  conforming  to  the  object  of  such  a  society,  and  hop« 
to  do  it  better  than,  I  fear,  I  could  have  done  under  the  y«>ka 
of  a  written  engagement.  Give  my  kindest  regards.  Ace  . 
^c.,  Thomas  Chalmkr*. 

No.  CCCXXIV.— To  THE  Rev.  P    Hendersojc.  Pollock- 

'     SHAWS. 

EniNBfRGH,  \3th  Drcftnbtr,  1845 

My  dear  Sir— There  is  no  express  law  of  the  Frea  Thureh 
that  such  congregations  only  as  arc  either  aid-giviof  or  iflf- 
supporting  should  supplement  the  stipend  of  their  min..ter 
Such  a  maxim  might  be  either  a  Mntimeut  or  a  pnocipU. 


400  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

but  it  has  not  been  formed  into  a  law.  But  to  estimate  in 
how  far  as  a  principle  it  is  applicable  to  your  case,  I  should 
like  to  know  whether  you  share  in  the  equal  dividend  or 
come  under  the  rule  of  one  and  a  half  more.  Even  though 
the  former,  I  feel  great  satisfaction  in  learning  from  you  that 
your  contributions  for  last  year  came  to  £74  Is.  Q^d.  If  all 
associations  made  up  of  the  poor  and  laboring  classes  were 
to  do  as  well,  we  should  be  greatly  better  off  than  we  are  ; 
and  I  do  hope  that  your  association  will  not  only  keep  up  its 
present  rate  of  contribution,  but  gradually  and  indefinitely 
extend  it.  If  you  are  under  the  rule  of  one  and  a  half  more, 
I  look  upon  you  as  being  in  very  fair  and  promising  circum- 
stances for  a  much  larger  income  than,  I  fear,^we  shall  ever 
attain  on  the  system  of  an  equal  dividend.  I  presume  that 
there  is  a  disposition  on  the  part  of  your  people  to  supple- 
ment your  income.  Their  present  contribution  would  secure 
for  you  under  this  rule  upward  of  £111.  But  should  they 
be  disposed  to  make  an  addition  to  your  income,  I  beg  you 
to  observe,  and  for  the  credit  of  the  rule  too,  that  for  every 
£,2  additional  which  they  would  give  to  their  present  con- 
tributions, they  would  get  £3  in  return ;  or,  in  other  words, 
if  they  were  to  make  out  a  supplement  of  £26,  and  send  it 
to  us  through  the  association,  then,  in  virtue  of  their  whole 
contribution  being  £100,  you  would  receive  £150.  Be  as- 
sured that  I  am  the  last  man  that  would  say  this  is  enough. 
My  view  of  the  matter  is,  that  all  our  public  functionaries  are 
greatly  underpaid;  and  I  should  rejoice  if  matters  were  so  far 
advanced  as  that  every  minister  of  the  Free  Church  should 
have  £200  a  year.  I  have  the  vanity  to  think  that,  if  they 
would  place  themselves  under  my  guidance,  or  rather,  as  I 
am  no  longer  fit  for  action,  under  the  guidance  of  my  views 
for  several  years,  they  should  not  be  long  of  reaching  this 
point.  But  letting  that  pass,  if  you  are  among  the  one-and- 
a-half-rule  ministers,  your  people  have  an  obvious  interest 
in  giving  at  least  £26  of  their  intended  supplement  to  you 
through  the  association  to  our  General  Fund,  when  the  whole 


SIR  GEORGE  SINCLAIR.  |ot 


accruing  £100  would  come  back,  and  £oU  lo  llje  bargain 
It  is  true  that  the  people  would  then  have  an  interi-»i  m 
sending  us  no  more,  but  in  reserving  all  Iheir  addiUoual  con- 
tributions ibr  a  supplement  lo  you.  And  yet  1  hliouM  hope 
better  things  both  of  them  and  of  yourself,  than  that  you 
would  make  a  dead  stand  in  your  contributions  to  uf  lo  boou 
as  you  came  to  the  £100.  I  do  feel  confident  in  the  pen- 
eral,  that,  when  there  is  enough  of  principle  in  a  t-ongreija- 
tion  to  work  up  their  contributions  so  far  as  £lUU.  for  the 
sake  of  £loO  to  their  minister,  this  of  itself  is  a  guarantee 
for  as  much  more  of  principle  as  would  lead  them  lo  go  be- 
yond the  £100  for  the  good  and  the  mterest  of  the  Church 
at  large.  I  beg  that  you  may  show  this  letter  to  iny  you 
please,  as  my  argument  against  the  equal  dividend,  and  for  the 
principle  of  each  congregation  getting  as  they  give.  On  iho 
other  hand,  will  you  suiler  me  to  retain  your  letter,  and  lo 
make  use  of  it  as  a  case  in  point  for  the  support  of  this  prin- 
ciple ?  I  shall  be  happy  to  hear  from  you  farther,  and  am, 
my  dear  sir,  yours  truly,  Tuo.mas  Chalmebs. 

No.  CCCXXV.— To  Sir  George  Sinclair. 

Edinburgh,  19rA  SrplfmUr,  1 846. 
My  dear  Sir — In  regard  to  the  pauperism.  I  think  il  u  all 
over  with  Scotland.  After  the  matter  has  been  legal izfd  to 
far,  I  feel  quite  unable  to  suggest  any  modifications  by  which 
the  evil  to  the  landlord,  and  what  is  of  still  more  imporlancc. 
to  the  people  themselves,  can  be  either  alleviated  or  done 

away. 

In  regard  to  the  other  question  of  our  resloraUon  to  the 
Establishment,  1  look  upon  this  as  almost  equally  hopelew. 
as  the  Free  Church  could  not,  consistently  with  her  prinn- 
pies  accede  to  such  a  movement  but  upon  such  conditions  aa 
would  appear  quite  extravagant  to  all  secular,  and  ihrrefcre 
to  the  majority  of  our  public  men.  In  th.  first  pUr*.  w. 
should  require  to  be  acknowledged  a-,  th.  K.t.hl..hm.«t  . 
nor  could  we  hold  fellowship  with  the  minuter,  ot  the  prr*- 


402  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

ent  national  Church  but  upon  their  submitting  to-  our  dis- 
ciphne,  or  being  reckoned  with  for  their  disobedience  to  acts 
of  Assembly  anterior  to  the  disruption.  In  the  second  place, 
we  will  never  again,  I  hope,  come  under  the  yoke  of  patron- 
age, for  the  modification  that  would  have  kept  us  in  will  not 
and  ought  not  to  recall  us. 

Thirdly,  there  behooved  to  be  an  entire  recognition  of  our 
spiritual  independence,  to  the  effect  that  the  civil  courts  might 
never  intromit  with  us  save  in  those  questions  which  related 
to  the  temporalities  of  the  Church.  There  is  one  respect  in 
which  we  would  deal  more  gently  with  the  clergy  of  the  Es- 
tablishment than  we  ourselves  were  dealt  with.  Though 
they  never  could  be  recognized  by  us  as  ministers  of  the  new- 
modeled  Establishment  till  they  had  given  the  satisfaction 
specified  in  the  first  article,  yet  they  should  be  life-rented  in 
their  temporalities,  and  the  places  left  vacant  would  be  given 
to  our  licentiates, 

I  feel  it  quite  grotesque  writing  to  you  in  this  manner  ;  but 
I  am  desirous  of  convincing  you  how  little  reason  there  is  to 
expect  that  there  can  be  such  a  reunion  as  that  to  which  you 
refer. 

Allow  me  to  express  the  satisfaction  I  feel  in  renewing 
my  correspondence  with  you.  There  is  nothing  intermediate 
that  should  efface  the  friendly  recollections  and  feelings  which 
our  friendly  intercourse  in  other  days  will  ever  awaken  in 
my  mind.     I  am,  &c.,  Thomas  Chalmers. 


LETTERS  TO  MR.  LENOX,  OF  NEW  YORK. 

No.  CCCXXVI. 

Edinburgh,  17th  January,  1842. 
My  dear  Sir — Your  great  kindness  to  our  Church  entitles 
you  to  know  that  we  are  still  in  deep  waters,  and  to  all  ap- 
pearance in  circumstances  of  greater  danger  under  our  new 
Conservative  than  under  our  old  Whig  government.     Mean- 


MR.  LENOX. 


■while,  I  trust  that  a  calm  and  resolute  principle  of  adheraoM 
to  the  great  cause  of  spiritual  indei)en(leiice  is  in  steady  prof- 
ress  throughout  our  land  ;  so  that  when  the  crisis  cornet.  I 
hope  and  pray  that  our  Church  will  be  enabhnl  to  ac(juit  her- 
self with  faithfulness  and  lionor  ;  and  that,  whether  she  con- 
tinue or  cease  to  be  a  national  Establishment,  she  will  pre- 
serve unimpaired  her  moral  weight  in  the  country,  and  have 
the  support,  as  well  as  the  sympathy,  of  all  good  men. 

In  the  expectation  of  hearing  from  you  soon.  I  over  am, 
my  dear  sir,  yours  most  gratefully  and  respectfully, 

Thomas  Chalmek*. 

No.  CCCXXVIl. 

Edinbtroh,  itk  May,  1842. 

My  dear  Sir — The  Conservatives  have  used  us  very  ill, 
but  I  have  reason  to  believe  are  now  somewhat  stapgered 
at  the  resolute  and  unbending  front  of  the  majority  \n  lh« 
Church.  They  flattered  themselves  that  we  would  give  in 
rather  than  lose  our  endowments  ;  and  they  find  it  a  more 
difficult  problem  than  they  had  first  counted  on,  now  that 
they  are  opening  to  the  conviction  of  such  a  disruption,  on 
the  event  of  their  persevering  in  their  present  policy,  as  will 
lead  to  the  separation  from  the  national  Church  of  so  many 
hundreds  of  her  best  clergy  as  could,  on  the  strength  oJ  their 
respectability  and  influence,  carry  the  great  bulk  of  the  pop- 
ulation along  with  them,  and,  resolving  themsclv—  «nto  « 
Home  Mission,  would  take  possession  of  the  land 

We  are  now  beginning  to  organize  the  counln*  inii  r-  .  ;.^o 
Associations,  that,  if  necessary  to  relmquinh  our  pr-s' n'  ;, 
comes,  which  of  course  would  be  left  in  p4.w>e«Mon  ot  a  Church 
then  Erastianized,  we  may  from  their  contributions  obtain 
such  support  as  might  be  raised  for  the  Non-Erastiaa  Church 
of  Scotland. 

All,  however,  is  vet  in  a  state  of  uncertainty.  Out  AeMOH 
bly  begins  to  sit  to'-morrow  fortnight.  The  appointmeal  of 
the  Marquess  of  Bute  to  be  our  comimuxoaex  f  tanouaiy  in- 


404  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

terpreted.  That  the  object  of  this  arrangement  is  a  special 
one,  there  can  be  no  doubt,  as  in  usual  times  the  office  is  con- 
ferred on  a  poor  nobleman,  whereas  Lord  Bute  is  possessed 
of  great  influence  and  great  wealth,  and  withal  had  earned 
the  gratitude  of  our  Church  by  his  munificence  in  the  cause 
of  church  extension.  Some  are  apprehensive  that  the  object 
is  to  conciliate  so  many  as  might  convert  the  minority  into  a 
majority  on  the  side  of  Lord  Aberdeen's  bill  with  some  plaus- 
ible modification.  Let  me  hope,  on  the  other  hand,  that  our 
majority  will  remain  firm  and  unbroken  ;  and  should  such 
be  the  result  of  their  experiment,  let  me  further  hope  that 
the  government  will  be  wise  enough  to  conclude  that  ours  is 
a  position  from  which  we  are  not  to  be  driven,  and  that  they 
will  desist  from  their  attempts  to  force  or  to  carry  it. 

This  is  the  day  in  which  the  Scottish  Church  question 
comes  before  the  House  of  Commons.  I  am,  my  dear  sir, 
yours  most  gratefully  and  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  cccxxvm. 

Edinburgh,  28th  July,  1843. 

My  dear  Sir — I  have  this  morning  received  your  noble 
benefaction  of  .£1100.  I  last  evening  received  a  letter  from 
Mr.  M'Millan,  overflowing  with  gratitude  to  Mr.  Johnstone 
and  yourself  for  the  similar  sum  which  he  had  just  received 
at  your  hands,  and  which  at  once  places  him  in  a  state  of 
sufficiency  and  perfect  ease.  May  the  Giver  of  all  grace 
plentifully  reward  such  sacrifices  for  the  good  of  His  cause 
and  His  kingdom  in  the  world. 

We  are  to  send  out  Dr.  Cunningham  and  another  on  an 
American  mission.  He  may  go  soon  enough  to  take  this  let- 
ter ;  but  if  not,  I  shall  send  by  him  notes  of  introduction  to 
yourself  and  Mr.  Johnstone,  not  that  either  of  you  shall  add 
to  the  princely  donations  which  you  have  already  bestowed 
on  us,  but  that  you  may  confer  the  benefit  of  your  informa- 
tion and  advice  in  regard  to  the  likeliest  methods  for  the  pros- 
ecution of  their  objects. 


MR.  LENOX.  405 


I  rejoice  in  the  liberty  you  have  piven  ai  to  tho  discloture 

of  your  name.  I  have  no  doubt  whatever  as  to  th*-  prcal 
expediency  of  making  it  known  in  the  way  of  example  and 
excitement  to  others  ;  and  1  shall  feel  it  a  great  additional 
favor  if  you  release  me  from  the  tic  of  secrecy  in  repard  to 
your  former  benefactions,  and  more  especially  for  that  object 
wherewith  Dr.  Mackay  is  connected. 

1  shall  instruct  Dr.  Cunninf^ham  to  take  out  all  the  docu- 
ments which  might  furnish  you  with  the  information  of  our 
doings.  Our  Financial  Committee  has  now  bepun  to  iMue  a 
Monthly  Statement,  and  there  is  an  article  furnished  by  my- 
self to  its  second  number,  entitled  "  The  Incveasinp  Pro«- 
perity,  yet  Increasing  DitUculties  of  the  Free  Church."  which 
will  at  once  let  you  perceive  the  great  itn|»ortanco  b<»th  of 
w^hat  you  have  done  for  Mr.  M'Millan  and  of  your  second 
donation,  that  to  the  General  Fund  being  allotted  to  the 
building  of  churches  rather  than  to  the  sustenlation  of  min- 
isters. 

I  shall  be  delighted  to  meet  with  the  artist  whm  t\<-  ar- 
rives, and  will  be  most  happy  to  give  him  the  sittings  which 
he  requires  of  me. 

I  am  sure  it  will  gratify  you  to  hear  that  the  ministnitioni 
of  our  Free-Church  clergymen  are  palpably  becoming  more 
powerful  and  spiritual  than  they  were.  May  (iod  proipcr 
His  own  cause  by  the  instrumentality  of  these  devoted  aad 
self-denying  men. 

The  Moderates  are  carrying  it  with  a  high  ha»d.  In  my 
own  parish  (Morningside)  they  have  ejected  the  nnnister  fn.m 
his  quoad  sacra  church,  and  the  service  has  been  earned  on 
in  my  own  house  for  three  Sabbaths  to  a  congregation  on«» 
day  of  toward  four  hundred  people  ;  while  in  the  rcsiduaiy 
there  were  bv  all  sorts  of  force<l  appliances  about  one  hiind. 
red  and  fifty,  rapidly  dwindling,  and  now.  I  beliere.  short 
of  a  hundred.  We  are  to  have  a  tent  during  autumn.  »nd 
expect  to  have  our  church  built  by  the  iH-gmiung  at  wmlrr 
1  beg  that  you  will  convey  the  expre.^siun  of  my  gralHul 


406  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

regards,  and  the  assurance  of  my  earnest  prayers  for  the  two 
unknown  friends  who  have  supplemented  so  handsomely  both 
the  Kirkcudbright  and  the  general  donation.  I  ever  am,  my 
dear  sir,  yours  most  gratefully  and  cordially, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCCXXIX. 

Edinburgh,  2Ath  February,  1844. 

My  dear  Sir — I  return  you  my  most  cordial  thanks  for  the 
munificent  offering  of  £1250  from  the  First  Presbyterian  con- 
gregation in  New  York.  You  say  nothing  as  to  the  destina- 
tion of  it,  and  I  shall  therefore  leave  that  undecided  till  the 
next  General  Assembly — making  it  depend  on  the  then  state 
of  our  funds  whether  it  will  go  to  sustentation  or  building. 

I  am  affected  by  your  observation  that  we  shall  never  meet 
in  this  world.  Few  things  would  afford  me  greater  pleasure 
than  the  quiet  of  a  few  weeks,  were  I  permitted  to  enjoy  it, 
under  your  hospitable  roof.  I  beg  that  you  will  present  my 
best  and  most  grateful  regards  to  the  Misses  Lenox ;  and  in 
the  hope  of  meeting  both  you  and  them  in  heaven,  believe 
me  ever,  my  dear  sir,  yours  most  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCCXXX. 

Edinburgh,  7th  October,  1844. 
My  dear  Sir — I  lose  not  a  moment  in  acknowledging  your 
munificent  donation  of  £200  in  aid  of  our  proceedings  in  the 
"West  Port.  I  shall  not  annoy  you  by  the  expression  of  that 
gratitude  which  I  most  intensely  feel.  May  the  prayer  of 
Saint  Paul,  in  2  Corinthians,  ix.,  6-15,  be  fully  accomplished 
upon  you  and  yours.  In  a  few  days  1  trust  that  we  shall  be 
able  to  prepare  a  narrative,  with  a  few  extracts  from  our 
more  recent  minutes,  respecting  our  operations  in  the  West 
Port,  and  by  which  you  will  be  enabled  to  know  what  has 
been  dene  and  is  doing  in  that  locality.  It  seems  to  be  ex- 
citing very  considerable  attention  in  this  part  of  the  country  ; 


MR.  LENOX. 


and  for  myself,  I  look  upon  it  to  be  of  such  paramount  import. 
ance.  that  I  mean  to  confine  my  efibrts  to  the  pro^MruUon  of 
the  experiment. 

Let  me  crave  a  part  and  an  interest  in  your  prayer.  I 
have  long  wished  that  my  last  decade,  that  i«,  from  the  see 
of  sixty  to  seventy,  should  be  a  Sabbatical  one— a  «eaik>n  of 
peace  and  piety.  Four  years  of  that  decade  have  now  pa^R-d 
away  ;  and,  instead  of  retirement  and  repose,  it  lias  been  with 
me  a  period  of  bustle  and  of  inanilold  i-n^rosMnont*.  But 
there  is  a  Providence  in  these  thiiiirs  in  which  it  i»  our  be- 
coming part  to  acquiesce  ;  and  1  think  it  will  irratify  yon  to 
know  that  your  various  communications,  charged  a»  ihey  have 
ever  been  with  all  that  is  kind,  and  genial,  and  r»-lrJ»hinp. 
have  ever  operated  as  cordials  to  soothe  and  to  Bustam  me 
amid  the  discouragements  and  the  conflicts  of  an  arduoui 
warfare.  Ever  believe  me,  my  dear  sir,  yours  most  grate- 
fully and  truly,  Tiio.mas  Chai.mkri. 

No.  CCCXA'XI. 

Edinburgh,  30/A  Dtctmhtr.  I«44. 
My  dear  Sir — I  have  requested  my  secretary  for  the  Wett 
Port  to  draw  up  a  narrative  of  our  proceedings  there  I 
should  like,  in  fact,  to  send  you  quarterly  re]M>rts  from  that 
very  interesting  locality — at  the  bottom  of  the  scale  it  u  said 
both  in  respect  of  depravity  and  destitution,  and  therefore  all 
the  fitter  as  the  field  of  an  experiment  for  trying  the  efficacy 
of  educational  and  moral  influences.  I  do  ho|K>  that  you  will 
look  upon  the  narrative  as  bearing  evidence  to  a  satinfactory 
progress,  for  which,  however,  I  desire  humbly  to  acknowledge 
my  entire  dependence  on  the  Giver  of  all  grace.  There  are 
some  with  whom  I  can  not  sympathize,  who  undrrralue  all 
mechanism  in  the  enterprises  of  Christian  u»efiilnc««,  and  tril 
us  of  the  Spirit  as  the  alone  agent  of  all  that  i«  really  good. 
There  are  others  again,  whose  faith  9top«  short  at  the  •<*• 
ondary,  and  who  despise  as  fanatical  the  d(Vtnne  of  a  fpint* 
ual  influence      The  way  to  adjust  this  ditf«r«ncf  «  no!  tc 


408  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

conflict  these  two  elements,  but  to  compound  them.  The 
Spirit  does  all,  but  through  an  instrumentality  to  which  the 
Bible  guides  us  ;  and  it  were  well  if  we  could  so  combine 
matters  as  to  work  the  instrumentality  with  all  diligence,  yet 
pray  for  grace  from  on  high  with  all  earnestness.  If  we  neg- 
lect the  former,  nothing  will  be  done  ;  if  we  neglect  the  lat- 
ter, an  impressive  mockery  awaits  all  the  confidence  of  human 
activity,  and  all  the  proud  decrees  and  anticipations  of  human 
wisdom. 

I  should  feel  it  a  great  favor  if  you  or  any  of  your  friends 
would  present  me  with  your  views  on  American  slavery — a 
subject  on  which  I  am  most  anxious  to  be  directed  aright, 
detesting  as  I  do  slavery  in  all  its  forms ;  yet  not  prepared 
for  those  impetuous  measures  for  which  the  ultras  on  both 
sides  of  the  Atlantic  are  vociferating  so  loudly.  I  feel  the 
greatest  value  for  your  kindness  in  having  obtained  Dr.  Alex- 
ander's deliverance  on  Dr.  Anderson's  works.  Perhaps  you 
could  do  me  a  similar  service  on  this  subject  of  slavery,  on 
which  I  should  like  if  I  could  make  up  my  mind  by  the  be- 
ginning of  April.  I  ever  am,  my  dear  sir,  yours  very  affec- 
tionately, Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCCXXXII. 

Edinburgh,  21st  April^  1845. 
My  dear  Sir — I  feel  exceedingly  obliged  by  your  valuable 
and  most  interesting  statements  on  the  subject  of  American 
slavery.  My  growing  infirmities  and  the  weight  of  other  en- 
gagements have  determined  me  to  give  up  the  duties  hence- 
forth of  a  member  to  our  General  Assembly,  else  I  should 
have  taken  p^rt  in  the  discussions  which  will  certainly  take 
place  in  May.  But  as  I  am  in  some  degree  pledged  to  make 
some  manifestation  of  my  views  upon  the  question,  I  propose 
to  prepare  next  week  a  letter  for  publication  on  the  subject 
in  one  of  the  newspapers.  Meanwhile,  I  shall  derive  the 
greatest  aid  from  your  representations,  without,  of  course,  com- 
mitting you  in  the  least  by  any  formal  notice  of  them.     Our 


MK    LKNOX,  ,^ 


views  are  substantially  the  same,  else  1  wi.i.Ui  never  hav« 
written  such  a  letter  to  Dr.  Smyth,  of  Charleslou.  us  I  did 
and  upon  which  Lewis  Tappan,  on  your  side  of  the  water! 
has  commented  so  outrajjeoiLsiy. 

I  received  the  other  day  lioni  America  the  la»t  Report  of 
the  Foreign  Board  of  Missions.  I  observe  that  the  aboniioii. 
ists  have  been  trying  to  extort  from  them  a  declaration  ajrainul 
slavery.  Really  this  is  quite  intolerable,  that  thry  mu»t  ihu* 
insist  on  binding  up  and  implicating  their  undoubted  pooiJ 
thing  with  all  the  other  good  tilings  that  are  going  on  m  the 
world,  and  fasten  the  burden  of  their  cause  upon  ever)- other. 
when  ill  fact,  on  every  principle  of  good  tactics  and  the  right 
division  of  employment,  each  cause  speeds  iufiniu«ly  belter 
when  prosecuted  separately  and  upon  its  own  distinct  merit* 
I  do  hope  that  this  obtrusive  and  ever-meddling  inijMjrtincnce 
of  theirs  will  have  an  efl'ectual  check  laid  ujion  it.  It  i»  niott 
provoking,  and  on  no  account  more  .^o  than  that  it  impedes 
the  very  object  which  their  own  heart,s  are  set  iii»on.  but 
which  the  hearts  of  others,  as  zealous  and  only  wiser  ihtn 
they,  are  as  much  and  as  honestly  set  upon  as  theirs  are.  I 
ever  am,  my  dear  sir,  yours  most  gratefully  and  cordially, 

TllO.MAS    CllALMLaS. 

No.  CCCXXXIII. 

Eot.iiBCRaH.  \5ih  JtiJf,  1845. 
My  dear  Sir — I  will  not  annoy  you  by  the  exprvMiont  of 
my  gratitude  for  the  munificence  by  which  you  have  conferred 
such  facilities  and  enlargements  on  our  o|>erations  in  the 
West  Port.  If  I  evinced  any  feeling  of  restraint  in  making 
our  necessities  known  to  you,  it  proceeded  from  no  distrust  in 
your  willingness  to  give,  but,  on  the  contrary,  from  the  li-eJing 
that  it  is  ungenerous  to  take  advantage  of  the  well-known 
liberality  of  those  whose  previous  benefactions  have  cxptmed 
them  to  demands  and  expectation.*  from  all  jwinU  of  ibe  com- 
pass. There  is  a  .-pecies  of  rapacity,  I  eould  aJniost  call  it 
harpyism,  even  among  professing  ChmUan*.  whicii  bat  oflrn 
V.  ^ 


410  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

scandalized  me,  and  which  discovers  itself  by  a  universal  set 
in  fi-om  all  sides  on  the  man  who  is  at  all  signalized  by  his 
past  liberalities.  I  think  that  the  proper  reaction  were  all 
the  greater  delicacy  and  reserve  toward  him  who  had  already 
done  and  expended  so  much  upon  the  cause. 

I  admire  exceedingly  the  Report  of  your  Assembly  on  the 
subject  of  slavery — done,  I  think,  with  admirable  tact  and 
wisdom.  I  very  much  like,  too,  the  deliverance  of  our  own 
Assembly  (May,  1845)  on  the  same  question,  and  confidently 
hope  that  you  will  approve  of  it.  In  regard  to  my  letter,  it 
appeared  in  the  "  Witness"  about  the  end  of  April ;  and  had 
I  not  thought  that  you  would  have  seen  it  there,  I  should 
have  instantly  forwarded  a  copy  to  you.*  Lest,  however, 
this  may  not  be  the  case,  I  have  sent  orders  to  Mr.  Macpher- 
son  to  copy  it  over  for  you,  and  send  it  in  his  own  handwrit- 
ing. I  do  hope  that  all  the  ultraism  to  which  we  have  been 
hitherto  exposed  is  set  at  rest,  and  that  the  great  cause  of  an 
ultimate  abolition  of  slavery  will  speed  all  the  faster  and  all 
the  surer  in  consequence. 

And  now,  my  dear  sir,  may  I  beg  that  you  will  now  begin 
to  cherish  the  purpose  of  a  visit  to  Scotland  next  summer, 
that  your  determination  may  be  formed  in  time,  and  that  we 
may  be  apprized  of  the  month  when  we  may  look  for  your 
arrival.  It  will  give  both  myself  and  Mrs.  Chalmers  the 
greatest  pleasure  to  receive  you  and  the  Misses  Lenox  under 
our  roof;  and,  if  God  be  pleased  to  spare  us,  I  shall  have 
much  to  say  and  perhaps  something  to  show  on  the  methods 
of  Christian  philanthropy.  Few  things  would  so  delight  me 
as  the  formation  of  a  personal  acquaintance  with  you.  "We 
think  it  possible  that  Jacob  Abbott,  now  of  your  city,  maybe 
a  sojourner  in  Edinburgh  for  some  time  next  summer;  and 
with  you  as  our  guest,  and  him  as  our  frequent  visitor,  I 
should  expect  much  light  to  be  thrown  on  the  comparative 
eccle.siaslical  systems  of  Britain  and  America.  But  his  com- 
ing is  an  uncertainty;  and  do  not  therefore,  I  implore  you, 
=*  Sbd  Memoirs,  vol.  iv.,  Appendix,  p.  581-591. 


MR.  LENOX.  4u 


suspend  your  movement  upon  his.     Your*  wiih  the  ulmott 
esteem  and  cordiality,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCCXXXIV. 

EuiMUR(;ii,  20lh  Octobfr,  1845. 
My  dear  Sir — I  avail  myself  of  the  Quarterly  Rr|Kirt  for 
October  to  add  a  (ew  sentences.  Your  welcome  U'XU't  of  the 
25th  ult.  came  to  me  some  days  apo  ;  and  I  have  detained 
this  for  a  few  days  in  the  hope  that  I  mif,'ht  be  able  to  an- 
nounce the  arrival  of  your  pamphlet  on  the  instruction  of 
slaves  in  the  South.  It  has  not  yet,  however,  made  its  ap- 
pearance. I  received,  however,  Ly  tho  same  poi.t  which 
brought  your  letter  to  me,  the  deliverance  of  the  Ainrnran 
Foreign  Board  of  JSIissions,  and  1  tliink  it  a  remarkably  wiitc 
and  well-weighed  decision  which  they  have  come  to,  and 
quite  of  a  piece  with  the  high  character  of  that  most  mteUi- 
gent  and  enlightened  body.  I  ever  am,  my  dear  sir,  youra 
with  the  greatest  esteem  and  regard, 

Thomas  Chalmer.h. 

No.  CCCXXXV. 

Epi>Bt  R«ii,  \7th  Dtrcmhrr.  \^\S 
My  very  dear  Sir — The  pamphlet  respecting  the  relijr- 
ious  instruction  of  the  negroes  in  the  i?outh  n'arhed  me  •om* 
time  ago.  It  delights  me  to  find  that  so  much  if  doing  , 
and  I  do  hope  that,  instead  of  having  to  rcpt>rt  only  •  frmc- 
tional  good,  we  shall  hear  shortly  of  a  movement  towan!  ' 
universal  Christian  education  of  the  colored  iribrs  in  the 
states.  I  along  with  your  letter  yesterday  received  two  p 
pers,  sent  me,  1  believe,  oh  account  of  Lord  Leonard  Wood's 
views  on  the  question  of  slavery.  He  »eem»  to  have  taken 
a  sound  view,  and  to  have  arrived  at  a  right  and  well-wnfh- 
ed  deliverance  upon  the  subject.  I  feel  ctmfulenl  ihat  th.' 
abolition  of  slavery  is  far  likelier  to  come  f«.n  by  art.njr  fm 
these  calmer  and  more  comprehen»iTe  surre)*  oi  '' 
ni   all  its  bearing^,  than  on  the  extreme  vi«w.  of  ■ 


a 

ir»c 

a- 


412  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

abolitionists.  I  can  assure  you  that  the  direction  which  this 
business  has  taken  elevates  greatly,  in  my  estimation,  the 
wisdom  and  force  of  principle  which  appear  to  pervade,  in 
general,  the  ecclesiastical  mind  and  philanthropic  public  of 
America. 

May  the  Giver  of  all  grace  pour  His  richest  blessings  upon 
you  and  yours. 

With  affectionate  regards  for  the  Misses  Lenox,  I  ever  am, 
my  dear  sir,  yours  very  gratefully,  and  with  the  utmost  esteem 
and  regard,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCCXXXVI. 

Edinburgh,  September,  1846. 
My  very  dear  Sir — I  observe,  and  with  the  greatest  sat- 
isfaction, your  growing  sense  of  the  spiritual  destitution  which 
obtains  among  the  working-classes  of  your  own  land,  or  the 
great  bulk  and  body  of  your  common  people — the  very  im- 
pression which  I  received  thirty  years  ago  from  my  hrst  ob- 
servations of  the  state  of  Glasgow,  and  on  which  I  have  been 
incessantly  acting  and  arguing  ever  since.  There  is  indeed 
a  very  great  delusion  among  those  who,  satisfied  with  a  su- 
perficial and  rapid  survey  of  the  ecclesiastical  state  of  a  coun- 
try in  the  number  of  churches,  and  the  bustle  of  a  full  and 
crowded  attendance  on  the  most  popular  and  prosperous  of 
these,  infer  a  sufficiency  in  the  means  and  methods  of  Chris- 
tian education  for  the  community  at  large.  I  am  very  con- 
fident, that  the  more  minutely  and  statistically  the  matter  is 
inquired  into,  the  more  certainly  will  it  be  found  that  your 
own  America,  like  our  own  Britain,  labors  under  the  bur- 
den of  a  population  miserably  deficient  in  respect  to  all  the 
observances  of  a  Christian  land.  I  see  no  remedy  for  the 
practical  heathenism  into  which  they  have  fallen,  but  a  vig- 
orous appliance  of  the  territorial  system,  along  with  the  indis- 
pensable grace  from  on  high.  I  should  rejoice  in  observing 
your  liberahty  taking  its  direction  toward  the  supply  of  your 
spiritual  necessities  at  home ;  knowing,  as  I  do,  that  they  arc 


MR.  LENOX.  4,3 


such  as  miplit  well  absorb  the  means,  not  only  of  one.  but  of 
many  Christian  philanthropists,  however  rirhly  frifieil  with 
the  blessings  of  abundance  they  might  be.  I  rejieat,  tliat  I 
should  feel  it  a  most  selfish  and  unjustifiable  thing  on  my 
part,  should  I  continue  to  divert  your  attention  from  what  1 
hold  to  be  far  the  most  profitable  and  fruitful  direction  t<» 
which  you  can  betake  yourself. 

I  expect  to  send  you  a  pamphlet  which  1  recentlv  published 
on  the  Evangelical  Alliance.  I  had  great  pleasure  in  meet- 
ing with  so  many  of  the  American  brethren  on  iheir  way  to 
London.  I  should  like  to  know  your  views  u|)on  this  subject. 
Do  you  happen  to  know  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Marcus  Sprinp.  and 
Miss  Fuller,  all  of  New  York  ? — they  were  recently  wiUi  me 
Douglas  the  slave,  and  Lloyd  Garrison,  have  recently  c<»me 
to  Edinburgh  and  opened  their  batteries  on  the  Free  Church, 
which  I  trust,  on  the  other  hand,  will  stand  its  ground  against 
them. 

I  will  not  relinquish  the  hope,  and  never  can  give  up  the 
desire  of  seeing  you  in  this  country.  I  rejoice  that  we  arc 
still  at  peace  with  America.  Your  remarks  on  a  deviation 
from  orthodox  theology  being  slight  enough  at  first  not  to  en- 
danger salvation,  but  diverging  at  length  into  deadly  error, 
are  of  first-rate  importance.  With  best  regards  to  the  Miss«*s 
Lenox,  I  ever  am,  my  dear  sir,  yours  most  cordially  and  grate- 
£yj|y  Thomas  Chalmekh 

No.  cccxxxvn. 

Ki.iNBTR.iii.  28/A  Octobtr,  1846 
My  very  dear  Sir— I  will  not  attempt  any  adequate  ut- 
terance or  expression  of'my  gratitude  for  your  le«er  of  the 
8th  because  I  know  well  that  this  is  not  the  retMm  whieh 
you'  have  much,  if  any,  value  for.  But  I  feel  luw  that  « 
better  return,  and  one  by  which  you  will  Ih-  far  better  pleated. 
is  the  simple  information  that  you  have  enabled  m-  to  mert 
every-  existing  engagement,  and  so  got  me  uut  ul  .. 
ficulties.      I  have  no  need  at  present  for  more  m 


414  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

you  ;  and  I  have  the  confident  hope  besides,  that  I  shall  be 
enabled  to  proceed  in  all  time  coming  on  home  resources 
alone.  At  the  same  time,  it  is  altogether  due  to  the  unex- 
ampled generosity  of  your  whole  treatment  of  me,  to  let  you 
frankly  know,  that  should  I  require  it,  I  shall  unreservedly 
make  the  statement  to  you  of  my  wants,  though  I  must  again 
couple  this  with  the  announcement  of  my  expectation  that 
the  Christian  philanthropy  on  this  side  of  the  water  (now 
more  alive  to  the  efficacy  of  our  territorial  proceedings),  will, 
as  it  ought,  meet  every  fair  demand  which  I  shall  make 
upon  it. 

It  may  perhaps  interest  you  to  know,  that  of  the  money  re- 
ceived, which  includes  all  your  own  most  munificent  dona- 
tions, I  got  £300  from  a  lady,  and  four  or  five  single  hund- 
reds from  as  many  individuals.  Lord  Jefirey,  the  celebra- 
ted Edinburgh  reviewer,  is  one  of  these,  who  takes  a  most 
friendly  interest  in  our  doings.  I  had  many  donors  of  £50, 
£20,  £10,  &c.,  &c.  And  what  to  me  was  extremely  grat- 
ifying, upward  of  two  hundred  subscriptions  from  the  West 
Port  itself,  ranging  from  the  smallest  copper  coin  (half  a  far- 
thing) to  £2. 

Do  tell  the  Misses  Lenox,  with  my  affectionate  regards, 
that  I  will  not  let  go  the  hope  of  yet  seeing  them- and  you  in 
Scotland.  But  let  us  never  cease  to  pray,  and  to  prepare  for 
taking  up  our  residence  in  that  eternal  city  whose  builder 
and  maker  is  God.  May  He  who  is  now  employed  in  pre- 
paring a  place  for  us,  prepare  us  for  the  place.  I  was  very 
much  interested  by  a  recent  letter  of  yours  on  the  new  the- 
ology. The  old  is  better.  May  it  come  to  us  not  in  word 
only,  but  in,  power.  Mrs.  Chalmers  joins  with  me  in  kindest 
regards.     I  ever  am,  my  dear  sir,  yours  with  highest  esteem, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCCXXXVIII. 

Edinburgh,  2d  January^  1847. 
My  dear  Sir — You  will  observe  from  my  last  letter,  that 


MR.  LENOX.  4,5 


I  very  gladly  and  gratefully  accept  of  your  kind  proposal  m 
to  the  additional  payments  which  place  me  on  a  high  vanl- 
age-ground  for  the  full  establishment  of  our  systfm. 

Lord  Jeffrey's  oflering  was  not  in  huiuujie  to  the  Free 
Church,  but  because  of  the  general  merits  of  our  cauM,  as 
associated  with  the  enlightenment  and  moralizalion  of  the 
people.  I  called  on  him  the  other  day.  He  is  indeed  a  very 
amiable  and  engaging  person,  and  one  of  the  best  s{>ecimcns 
T  know  of  the  natural  man,  with  great  respect,  loo,  for  Chrie- 
tianity,  even  in  its  most  serious  and  evangelical  form.  Ileavea 
grant  that  it  may  ripen  ere  he  dies  into  a  personal  and  »av- 
ing  faith.*  With  most  cordial  and  Christian  regards  lo  the 
Misses  Lenox,  ever  believe  me,  my  dear  sir,  yours  most  af- 
fectionately and  with  greatest  esteem, 

Thomas  Chalmeks. 

No.   CCCXXXIX.— To  Dr.  D.   Stebbins,  Noktilampto!*. 
Massachusetts. 

Edinburgh,  30M  Mm^,  1844 
My  DEAR  AND    VENERABLE   FrIEND 1   Can  HOt  adeqilil'ly 

express  the  interest  which  I  feel  in  the  relir  of  Edwards, 
which  you  have  had  the  goodness  to  bestow  upou  me  Him 
1  have  long  esteemed  as  the  greatest  of  theologians,  combm- 

*    24    Moray   Place,    Saturday    rvfnittg.   Mtfi   Xrvrt-.K-r,    |«4?  — 
Reverend  and  dear  Sir— I  intrusted  my  Mibmript  • 
discrption  of  Dr.  Chalmers,  and  can  not  have  ih.'  I.  . 
now  being  disposed  of  a.s  may  scorn  best  t..  th.  ■ 
honored  by  his  eoufidence.  and  are  lollowinL'  «  ^ 

I  have  been  very  maeh  touched  and  in      ' 
enough  to  inform  me  as  to  the  tiegrer 

which  that  great  and  go^nl  man  wa«  pl«  a-  ■'   

his  nature,  to  regard  my  h.fndilr  cU-.n-s  in  th--  irr- 

hi.s  life  was  devoted,  and  con  truly  say  that  1  »Ull  <  t.. 

with  the  sinecrest  love  and  vineralion.  _tri.-«.k. 

1  an.  much  .stm.k  with  the  appeal  in  b.hal  o  the  ""'V'^JCIi-t.k^ 
whuh  you   inelose   fur  my  cou>.dcra,ion,   «^'l  /-fj^^r,^"  "^^1^ 
cheek  for  a  small  sum  as  a  contnbut.on  for  ,ts  -on^V^'^* 
the  honor  to  be,  dear  s.r,  your  obliged  and  fi.Wul  *«J.*;^^^^^^ 

To  the  Rev.  W.  Hanna. 


416  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

ing,  in  a  degree  that  is  quite  unexampled,  the  profoundly  in- 
tellectual with  the  devotedly  spiritual  and  sacred,  and  real- 
izing in  his  own  person  a  most  rare,  yet  most  beautiful  har- 
mony between  the  simplicity  of  the  Christian  pastor,  on  the 
one  hand  ;  and  on  the  other,  all  the  strength  and  prowess  of 
a  giant  in  philosophy,  so  as  at  once  to  minister  from  Sabbath 
to  Sabbath,  and  with  most  blessed  effect,  to  the  hearers  of 
his  plain  congregation  ;  and  yet,  on  the  high  field  of  author- 
ship to  have  traveled,  in  a  way  that  none  had  ever  done  be- 
fore him,  the  most  inaccessible  places,  and  achieved  such  a 
mastery  as  had  never  till  his  time  been  realized  over  the 
most  arduous  difficulties  of  our  science. 

There  is  no  European  divine  to  whom  I  make  such  frequent 
appeals  in  my  class-room  as  I  do  to  Edwards — no  book  of 
human  composition  which  I  more  strenuously  recommend 
than  his  "  Treatise  on  the  Will,"  read  by  me  forty-seven 
years  ago,  with  a  conviction  that  has  never  since  faltered, 
and  which  has  helped  me,  more  than  any  other  uninspired 
book,  to  find  my  way  through  all  that  might  otherwise  have 
proved  baffling  and  transcendental,  and  mysterious  in  the  pe- 
culiarities of  Calvinism. 

You  will  not  wonder,  then,  at  my  value  for  the  memorial 
which,  through  my  friend  Dr.  Cunningham,  you  have  put  into 
my  hands.  I  will  place  it  beside  the  autograph  sermon  of 
Edwards,  which  I  received  from  his  grandson,  Mr.  Dwight, 
a  good  many  years  ago,  and  which,  along  with  the  autograph 
in  my  possession  of  Brainerd  and  the  Missionary  Elliot,  I 
cherish  as  the  most  precious  of  my  literary  treasures. 

It  is  my  earnest  prayer,  venerable  father  and  friend,  that 
yours  may  be  an  evening  of  piety  and  peace,  and  that  the 
manifestations  of  light  and  love  from  the  upper  sanctuary 
may  descend  upon  your  soul,  so  that  while  drawing  near  to 
death  you  may  be  ripening  for  eternity. 

But  whatever  your  experiences  may  be,  and  they  are  ex- 
ceedingly various  even  with  the  most  experienced  Christians, 
may  you  at  all  times  be  enabled  from  looking  inwardly  upon 


REV.  DR.  MKKLK  D'AlHIGNi::. 


417 


yourself,  to  look  upwardly  and  outwardly  on  the  Rreat  object 
of  revelatiou— the  Sun  of  Righteousness —  so  that,  like  an 
eminent  countryman  of  yours,  when  asked  on  hiM  deathhcd 
about  his  frames  and  feelings,  you  mi«rht  he  enal.led  to  mako 
the  constant  and  confident  reply — "  that  there  is  fnrn  tf  trtth 
God  171  Christ  /c-.s/^s."  I  ever  am,  my  dear  sir.  your',  inml 
cordially  and  gratefully,  Thomas  Chalmi  t. 

No.  CCCXL. — To  Tin:  Kkv.  Dr.  Merle  d'Atbionk. 

KiJiNiuRGii.  '24/A  Marfh,  1845. 

My  very  dear  Sir — E.xcuse  my  employing  an  amanuen- 
sis, which  is  better  for  you,  as  I  have  a  very  illegd»l««  hand- 
writing, which,  in  conjunction  with  my  Englihh.  miifht  mako 
it  all  the  more  difficult  for  your  perusal. 

I  very  much  rejoice  in  having  heard  from  y<.i»  1  have 
been  meditating  a  letter  to  you  for  month!*,  to  intimate  ib«» 
eager  expectancy  of  the  Christian  public  here  for  your  fourth 
volume,  and  also  to  communicate  with  you  on  the  all-irnport- 
ant  subject  of"  Christian  union.  But  I  do  hope  we  shall  have 
the  pleasure  of  meeting  with  you  in  Edinburgh,  whin  wr  <  ;m 
talk  at  large  over  both  these  subjects. 

Before  addressing  myself  to  your  special  mijmnri.  jri  run 
first  state  the  high  sense  I  have  of  the  Christian  and  theolog- 
ical importance  of  your  work  on  the  Refonnalion  It  it  nol 
of  its  interest  as  an  historical  record  that  I  alone  speak,  but, 
over  and  above  this,  I  have  read  no  didactic  or  even  devo- 
tional human  work  more  fitted  to  impress  upon  the  reader 
the  precious  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith,  or  endear  to  him 
what  was  so  dear  to  the  mind  of  Luther — the  sontunenl  of 
"  The  Lord  our  righteousness." 

I  rejoice   in   the   commencement  of  our   corr-  *• 
May  the  Giver  of  all  grace  p<>ur  on  you  and  voui- 
blessings  ;  and  let  me  entreat  you  to  believe  mc.  nijr  very  tieaf 
sir,  yours  with  the  utmost  esteem  and  regard. 

TiioMA*  Cmalmke* 
S  2 


418  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


No.  CCCXLI. — To  THE  Uev.  Dr.  Merle  d'Aubigne. 

MoRNiNGSiDE,  3d  June,  1845. 

My  very  dear  Sir — You  asked  me  to  point  out  the  most 
interesting  objects  for  a  small  western  excursion  from  Glas- 
gow. It  delights  me  to  hear  that  our  moderator,  who  is  far 
better  acquainted  with  the  localities  of  that  region  than  my- 
self, is  willing  personally  to  undertake  your  guidance  through 
Argyleshire,  and  to  one  or  two  of  our  most  interesting  islands. 
I  should  have  liked  that,  as  an  ecclesiastical  historian,  you 
could  have  seen  St.  Andrews,  the  ancient  ecclesiastical  me- 
tropolis of  Scotland,  and  seat  of  our  Scottish  Reformation,  and 
1  do  hope  that  you  will  make  out  lona,  the  place  of  the  great 
St.  Columbus,  and  noted  as  a  religious  asylum  from  very  an- 
cient times. 

It  would  have  gladdened  my  heart  could  I  have  accom- 
panied you  ;  but  I  confess  myself  to  be  fairly  worn  out,  and, 
after  my  exertion  in  Glasgow  on  Sunday,  will  stand  urgently 
in  need  of  repose. 

I  need  not  say  how  much  both  yourself  and  Madame  D'Au- 
bigne have  grown  upon  the  affections  of  us  all.  My  own 
family,  in  particular,  have  the  utmost  desire  for  intercourse 
with  you  both,  and  should  indeed  rejoice  in  it  as  a  great  priv- 
ilege could  we  obtain  a  quiet  day  or  two  of  your  and  her  so- 
ciety in  the  charming  retreat  of  Fairley,  in  Ayrshire.  The 
lady  whose  house  we  occupy  there  (Miss  M'Call)  desires  us 
to  invite  you  ;  and  my  four  daughters,  whom  you  have  not 
seen,  and  who  are  there  before  us,  have  been  put  into  a  state 
of  greatest  expectancy ;  and  I  feel  assured  that  matters  could 
be  so  arranged  as  to  fall  in  with  your  other  movements,  and 
secure  you  needful  rest  as  well  as  expedite  your  journey. 

There  is  nothing  I  would  more  prize  than  leisurely  and  un- 
interrupted converse  with  you  for  as  long  a  time  as  you  can 
possibly  spare.  I  ever  am,  my  dearest  sir,  yours  with  the  ut- 
most esteem  and  regard,  Thomas  Chalmers. 


REV.  DR.  MERLE  D'AUBIGNt. 


41t 


No.  CCCXLII.— To  THE  Rev.  Dr.  Merle  D'AmiONfc. 

Edinbikgh,  7th  February,  1M46. 

My  very  dear  Sir— I  should  have  lophnl  to  your*  ..f  the 
19th  of  January  sooner;  but  I  can  not  rffjret  the  delay,  lor 
only  a  few  minutes  a^o  has  y.,ur  new  volume  been  pul  mlo 
my  hands,  and  I  have  just  read  its  noble  preface,  sti  well  fit- 
ted  to  silence  and  to  shame  all  adversaries.  My  family  aru 
now  devouring  it,  and  I  expect  myself  to  achieve  its  |xtiiki1 
m  a  few  days.  I  have  already  seen  some  of  the  prtx»f»hrct». 
and  was  much  pleased  with  the  spirited  and  iinpre.«iMive  ttyie 
of  the  translation. 

Many  thanks  to  you,  my  dear  sir,  for  your  deeply  affiv'titi^ 
details  on  the  subject  of  your  motlier's  death.  They  f<.rribly 
reminded  me  of  my  own  mother's  death,  which  took  place  in 
February,  1827.     She  died  in  the  trmmphs  of  the  failh. 

I  observe  that  the  Vaudois  Free  Church  is  not  without  iU 
perplexities,  especially  on  the  subject  of  a  ronfessiun.  We 
may  get  involved  in  dilficullies,  too,  on  the  question  of  lh« 
Evangelical  Alliance,  about  which  some  of  our  Pre»bvter)"  are 
beginning  to  make  a  stir.  It  will  not  be  the  knowlrdpe  that 
puHelh  up,  but  the  charity  which  edifK-tli.  tiiat  wiil  iir.i'Mi- 
cally  resolve  this  question. 

I  beg  my  best  regards  to  Madame  D  .Auiiii,'!!.'.  m  \\  ni< n  mi 
our  family  most  cordially  join.  May  1  beg  that  you  will  aln 
offer  my  friendly  and  respectful  acknowledgmentu  to  Montirtir 
Gaussen,  I  read  with  great  interest  the  ojHsninp  of  j-oiir 
winter  session.  1  ever  am,  my  dear  t'ir.  yours  witli  pn-al  es- 
teem and  affection,  Thomas  rnvi.Mi.Rs 

No.  CCCXLIIL— To  THE  Ukv.  liu.  Mkhi-k  ...i., ^*. 

Edinburoh,  \Alh   Ffbnuiry.   |H4< 
My  dear  Sir — I  have  now  finished  the  readmp  of  ymt 
fourth  volume,  and  can  not  suflicicntly  oxprx**  wy  ii.t.-rr.i 
and  admiration.      In  point  of  narrative.  I  Micvr  that  thr  Ut- 
ter half  of  it  will  prove  the  more  «f'r,'oM,v..  t..  '.l-  c-ncral 


420  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

public.  The  Swiss  Reformation  was  very  much  unknown 
in  its  details  to  the  people  of  this  country,  and  I  never  was 
more  riveted  in  my  life  to  any  book  than  when  engaged  in 
the  perusal  of  it. 

But  while  the  latter  half  of  your  volume  is  full  of  interest 
on  the  subject  of  the  Church's  spiritual  independence,  and 
the  danger  of  mixing  up  the  secular  with  the  spiritual,  I 
should  hold  that  the  former  half  of  your  volume  will  be  still 
more  prized  by  theologians.  The  Confession  of  Augsburg, 
and  the  conference  between  Luther  and  Zwingle  at  Marburg, 
are  truly  splendid  and  memorable  passages.  Go  on  and  pros- 
per, my  dear  sir,  and  be  assured  that  your  present  volume, 
with  the  anticipations  which  it  holds  out  as  to  the  subject  of 
the  one  that  comes  next,  will  raise  very  high  the  interest  and 
the  expectancy  of  the  British  public. 

My  very  best  regards  to  Madame  D'Aubigne,  in  which,  as 
well  as  in  regards  to  yourself,  one  and  all  of  my  family  most 
heartily  join.  I  ever  am,  my  dear  sir,  yours  with  the  utmost 
regard,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCCXLIV.— To  Miss  Brewster. 

Anstruther,  i9th  May,  1845. 

My  dear  Miss  Brewster — I  can  not  take  leave  of  this 
place,  which  I  quit  in  an  hour  or  two,  without  conveying  to 
you  the  expression  of  my  very  sincere  regret  in  not  having 
had  the  good  fortune  to  meet  with  you  on  Saturday,  The 
disappointment  was  all  the  more  cruel  that  you  left  only  a 
few  minutes  after  our  arrival,  when  we  found  that  you  had 
got  quite  beyond  our  reach. 

I  can  not  express  in  an  adequate  manner  the  interest  I  felt 
in  my  conversation  with  Sir  David  on  Thursday.  I  know 
well  how  alive  you  are  to  the  moral  glories  that  irradiate  a 
Church  or  a  nation  ;  and  I  do  hope  that  you  are  not  insens- 
ible to  the  glories  even  of  the  material  heavens,  which  now 
beam  upon  us  in  larger  and  brighter  revelation  than  ever  ; 
and  in  proportion  to  which  I  think  our  conceptions  should  rise 


MRS.  WILLIAMSON. 


4S1 


of  that  spiritual  economy  under  which  we  sit,  both  being  un- 
der the  control  and  comprehensive  government  of  Hun  who 
sits  aloft  from  view,  and  <rivcs  birth,  and  movement,  and  coun- 
tenance to  all  thino^s. 

It  is  my  fondest  hope  and  prayer  that  both  of  n«  shall  havo 
an  interest  and  a  part  in  tlie  yet  uiideveloix-d  blcH>;<'drjf-*H  «.f 
that  high  and  holy  administration. 

With  kindest  regards  to  Sir  David  and  Lady  JJrew«tcr.  t-vcr 
believe  me,  my  dear  madam,  yours  affectionately  and  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmer*. 

No.  CCCXLV.— To  Miss  Brewsteh. 

19  York  Pi.ai  r,  2SfA  }[ay,  1845 
My  dear  Miss  Brewster — 1  can  imagine  nothing  more 
monstrous  than  the  stupidity  into  which  I  fear  I  must  have 
fallen,  if  it  was  really  you  who  sat  near  the  moderator's  chair 
this  evening,  and  on  whom  I  speculated  in  my  own  mind  for 
hours  as  one  whom  I  ought  to  have  known.  It  i»  far  the 
most  mortifying  instance,  though  very  many  such  ha%'e  oc- 
curred, of  my  utter  want  of  the  organ  of  individuality  :  but  I 
never  could  have  fancied  it  possible  that  it  ever  could  bare 
happened  in  the  case  of  one  in  whom  (forgive  me  for  taying 
it)  I  feel  so  much  interest. 

It  would  comfort  me  efiectually  if  you  would  have  the  good- 
ness  to  let  me  know  whore  and  when  it  ii  that  I  may  hare 
the  pleasure  of  waiting  upon  you.  Ever  btdieve  me.  my  very 
dear  madam,  yours  most  atlectionately  and  tnily. 

TilOMAA  ChaLMEKA. 

No.  CCCXLVI.— To  Mrs.  Williamson. 

Edi?«bc»oii.  21*r  May.  If»45. 
My  dear  Mrs.  Williamson — I  must  not  >«urtiT  Miv^^lfm 
plunge  into  other  scenes  and  occupations  without  r: 
grateful  acknowledgment  of  all  your  kin<incM  to  i 
the  happy  days  I  spent   under  your  ho.pitablc  rool       Mr 
Mackenzie  mo'st  cordially  joini  ro«  in  thii  feeling  .  and  we 


422  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

both  agree  in  this,  that  we  never  spent  a  week  where,  both 
within  doors  and  without,  there  was  so  much  to  regale  and 
to  gratify,  and  that  without  so  much  as  one  taint  or  particle 
of  alloy  from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  it.  I  can  not  ade- 
quately express  the  enjoyment  I  felt  both  in  the  revival  of 
the  images  and  recollections  of  other  days,  and  in  the  unex- 
cepted  cordiality  and  good- will  of  my  fellow  citizens. 

I  have  had  particular  satisfaction  in  Mr.  Ferrie.  I  think 
that  all  his  appearances,  both  in  public  and  private,  were  in 
the  highest  degree  creditable  ;  and  I  no  longer  wonder  at  the 
general  good  liking  felt  for  him  by  the  families  of  Anster. 
We  have  been  reading  his  account  of  our  Fife  excursion,  and 
there  is  a  great  deal  of  good  feeling  in  it,  as  well  as  lively  de- 
scription. Will  you  tell  him  how  much  we  were  all  amused 
at  the  reference  which  he  made  to  the  palmy  days  of  my 
boyhood  ?  He  has  misnamed,  however,  my  old  friend  Lizzy 
Geens.  I  had  forgot  that  she  was  adverted  to  by  Mr.  Ten- 
nant. 

I  trust  that  we  may  see  Dr.  Williamson  on  our  side  of  the 
water  before  he  leaves  Burntisland  ;  and  it  is  my  earnest 
hope  and  prayer  that  he  may  be  long  spared  to  you.  May 
the  Giver  of  all  grace  pour  the  richest  spiritual  blessings  on 
you  and  yours.  I  was  much  delighted  with  the  manifest  im- 
provement that  has  taken  place  in  the  spirits  of  the  people, 
and  in  the  relish  felt  by  so  many  of  them  for  sacred  things. 
May  there  be  a  descent  of  living  water  from  above  on  all  the 
households  of  the  town  and  neighborhood.  Ever  believe  me, 
my  dear  madam,  yours  most  affectionately, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCCXLVII.— To  Miss  Marshall,  Glasgow. 

Fairlby,  nth  June,  1845. 

My  dear  Miss  Marshall — It  is  a  precious  effect  of  a  few 

days'  domestication  in  a  house  that  it  draws  so  much  closer 

one's  intimacy  with  all  its  inmates  ;   and  I  have  a  very  great 

value  for  the  revival  that  has  thus  taken  place  of  our  old  ac- 


CHARLKS  SPENCE,  ESQ. 


quaintanceship  with  your  household,  as  well  as  the  fomulioii 
of  a  new  acquaintanceship  with  the  younper  im-iubcre  of  the 
family.  Every  additional  opportunity  I  have  of  ob»ervuig  Mr. 
Buchanan  and  his  doin-rs  enhances  all  the  more  the  esteem 
1  have  ever  felt  for  his  Christian  worth  and  patriotism. 

Should  you  see  Miss  Watson,  will  you  have  the  po«Klne«e 
to  let  her  know  that  I  am  quite  ashamed  of  havuip  had  so 
imperfect  a  recollection  of  her  so  lonp  as  we  were  topi-thor  m 
your  house  ?  But  Mrs.  Chalmers  has  refreshed  my  dtvaym^ 
memory  ;  and  I  can  now  recopnize  her  as  the  dauphler  of 
that  kind,  cordial,  and  most  respectable  old  lady.  who.  though 
a  Dissenter,  looked  most  benipnantly  on  the  f;oo<i  Churchincn 
who  differed  from  her.  But  what  is  still  more  intt-reiiung  to 
me,  she  is  the  sister  of  Georpe  \VatBon,  whom  1  viMted  on 
his  death-bed,  and  whose  case  I  have  often  quoted  %a  one  of 
the  most  delightful  I  had  ever  witnessed,  of  one  who,  on  the 
stepping-stone  of  a  simple  faith,  attained  to  a  clear  and  con- 
fident sen.se  of  a  reconciled  God,  and  the  a£aured  pro»poct, 
through  Christ,  of  a  blessed  immortality. 

With  best  regards  to  Mr.  and  Miss  Ihichanan  and  your  two 
nephews,  ever  believe  me,  my  dear  madam,  yours  Vfrj-  atfeo- 
tiouately  and  truly,  Thomas  CiiALMKm«. 

No.  CCCXLVIll— To  Charles  Spenck.  Bjkj. 

MoRNiMOsiDK,  26tk  Jamtimtj.  \M€ 
My  dear  Sir — Though  I  am  not  able  to  attend  your  pub- 
lic meeting  on  the  3Uth,  you  know  that  1  feel  no  ^-mnt  of  in- 
terest in  its  object.  The  truth  is.  that  1  look  on  the  Chn»- 
tianization,  I  will  not  say  of  the  jKwr  only,  but  of  the  generml 
population,  as  the  highest  cause  of  our  day— the  entcrpnte 
which,  with  the  aid  and  countenance  of  Divmc  jfrice  from 
above,  will  be  prolific  of  the  greatest  bleasin^  to  the  gremtmA 
number  of  our  fellow-men. 

I  do  hope  that  your  Ulx)rs  will  have  the  effect  o(  UyiBf 
more  open  to  the  public  observation  the  fearful  dclitulw* 
which  prevails  of  all  adequate  mean,  and  ftaequAle  method* 


424  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

for  the  religious  instruction,  and  so  for  the  social,  the  moral, 
and  the  spiritual  well-being  of  countless  thousands,  I  should 
even  say  of  the  great  mass  of  our  city  families.  May  the 
minds  of  men  be  made  more  alive  to  the  urgent  necessity  of 
something  being  done  far  more  effectual  than  has  ever  yet 
been  attempted,  at  least  on  a  large  scale,  or  than  has  yet 
been  scarcely  thought  of.  And  be  assured  that  I  shall  re- 
joice in  it  as  of  one  of  the  best  results  attendant  on  your  pres- 
ent effort,  should  it  have  the  effect  of  uniting  in  one  common 
work  of  Christian  charity  the  wise  and  the  good  of  all  de- 
nominations. 

I  have  particularly  to  thank  you  for  your  kind  expressions 
and  good  wishes  in  reference  to  my  own  more  limited  doings 
in  the  West  Port.  You  know  my  partialities  for  the  local 
system,  and  have  been  made  aware  of  my  belief  that,  for  a 
thoroughly  pervading  operation,  the  whole  territory  should  be 
broken  up  into  districts,  each  small  enough  to  be  undertaken 
by  a  distinct  and  separate  agency  of  its  own — a  system  of 
operation  this  which  I  think  should  be  encouraged  to  the  ut- 
termost. I  am,  therefore,  glad  to  find  that  in  the  operations 
of  the  City  Mission  this  principle  has  been  so  far  proceeded 
on,  and  should  rejoice  if,  by  the  extension  of  your  resources, 
you  were  enabled  to  carry  it  forward,  even  till  you  have 
reached  the  desirable  consummation.  Meanwhile,  if,  by  the 
assumption  of  successive  districts  on  the  part  of  myself  and 
others,  your  present  field  shall  be  so  encroached  upon  as  to 
leave  a  continually  decreasing  remainder  in  your  hands,  I  am 
sure  you  will  find  that  the  diminution  of  extent  will  be  am- 
ply repaired  by  the  comfort  and  the  efficacy  of  a  more  in- 
tense concentration.  It  is  thus  that  the  local  and  the  gen- 
eral might  be  made  to  work  most  beautifully  into  each  other's 
hands  ;  and  there  is  nothing  which  I  more  desiderate  than  a 
combination  of  that  union  and  authority  which  are  secured 
by  the  latter,  with  the  activity  and  busy  interest,  and  thorough 
operation  that  can  only  be  secured  by  means  of  the  former. 
While  I  have  thankfully  to  express  my  acknowledgment 


CHARLES  SPENCE,  ESQ. 


4tB 


for  the  friendly  countenance  and  repeated  civilities  of  the 
City  Mission  from  the  very  conimeiiceinent  on  the  West  Port. 
allow  me  again  to  thank  yon  for  yonr  present  Iriendiy  aihisioii 
to  It.      I  ever  am,  my  dear  sir,  youra  with  great  rrpard, 

Thomas  Ciialmlkh 

No.  CCCXLIX._To  Charles  Spkkck.  Khq 

MoKNjNusiDK,  2C}lh  January,  1846. 

My  dear  Sir— My  letter  to  you  was  prepared  beforr  I  re- 
ceived your  note  requesting  that  I  should  address  it  to  the 
lord  provost.  On  this  and  on  other  grounds  I  greatly  pre- 
fer addressing  it  to  yourself  Of  course  the  whole  of  it  will 
be  read,  as  I  wish  my  testimony  in  favor  of  the  lH>cal  Syntcm 
to  be  made  as  distinct  and  as  public  as  my  testimony  in  fa- 
vor of  the  City  Mission.  It  is  well  to  have  bi-gun  with  the 
one,  but  I  hope  it  will  end  with  the  other — yours  being  the 
way  in  which  you  have  nobly  taken  the  lead,  and  ours  being 
the  ultimate  landing-place.  I  am,  my  dear  sir,  yours  very 
truly,  Tno.MAS  Chalmers 

No.  CCCL— To  Charles  Spence.  Esq. 

MoRNiNGsiDK,  2Sth  Ftbruary.  1846. 

My  dear  Sir — My  experience  hitherto  of  general  bodiet 
of  superintendence  makes  me  afraid  of  them,  lest,  in  the  firrt 
instance,  they  should  be  satisfied  with  a  sujK'rfiriti  instead 
of  a  thorough  operation,  which,  I  believe,  ran  only  ho  efTert^d 
by  distinct  district  agencies;  and  lest,  in  the  second  instance. 
they  should,  by  a  system  of  rules  and  forms,  with  the  new 
of  harmonizing  all,  lay  an  incubus  upon  each.  I  could  not 
join  in  such  a  combinati'on  but  on  the  principle  that  the 
poorest  of  the  poor  should  be  as  much  looked  after,  and  be  mm 
fully  provided  with  the  means  of  (Josp-I  instruction  «•  the 
middle  and  upper  classes  in  society.  And  therefore  I  hold 
that  a  system  which  would  stop  short  and  U-  n«ti»/ied  wnh 
any  provision  beneath  schools  for  all  and  churrhe*  for  all.  it 
but  an  apology  for  the  thing,  and  not  the  thmr  i!»elf 


426  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

At  the  same  time,  I  am  not  insensible  to  the  good  of  some 
sort  of  general  surveillance,  if  it  did  not  too  much  interfere 
with  the  independence  and  sovereignty  that  each  district 
management  should  have  over  its  own  processes.  For  ex- 
ample, would  they  attempt  only  to  aid  and  encourage,  with- 
out aught  like  jurisdiction  or  control,  I  should  think  that 
great  good  might  be  effected  by  such  an  overseership  as  this. 
Suppose  they  were  to  collect  a  general  fund  for  tTie  purpose 
of  aiding  and  supplementing  the  local  funds  raised  in  behalf 
of  those  districts  whose  management  and  whose  objects  they 
approved  of,  this  would  stimulate  and  extend  the  system  of  lo- 
cal cultivation  without  any  of  those  hamperments  and  compli- 
cations which  I  have  hitherto  so  abundantly  experienced  as 
the  fruit  of  my  connection  with  general  directorships.  Were 
such  a  system  adopted,  I  think  we  should  all  hand  in  the  re- 
ports of  our  proceedings  and  progress  to  you,  and  if  we  need- 
ed money,  should  apply  to  you,  which  of  course  you  would 
only  give  if  you  approved  of  our  doings.  I  can  imagine  too, 
that  in  course  of  time  we  might  thus  feel  our  way  to  a  greater 
harmony  of  action  than  we  ought  to  attempt  laying  down  at 
the  outset  by  authoritative  rules. 

Be  assured  that  I  am  utterly  misunderstood,  if  these  views 
are  conceived  to  have  in  them  the  least  of  sectarianism.  It 
is  with  me  a  pure  question  of  what  may  be  called  spiritual 
tactics,  or  the  most  effectual  method  of  pervading  our  plebe- 
ian families  with  the  lessons  and  influences  of  the  Gospel. 
So  little  of  a  sectarian  am  I,  that  I  look  on  the  distinction 
between  Presbyterianism  and  Independency,  or  even  between 
your  adult  and  our  pedobaptism,  as  a  downright  bagatelle 
when  compared  with  the  moral  and  Christian  good  of  the 
population.  My  experimental  feeling  is,  that  it  is  impossible 
to  act  with  any  degree  of  comfort  or  efficacy  when  overborne 
by  the  restraints  of  a  cumbrous  and  unwieldy  committeeship. 
You  mistake  me  if  you  think  I  do  not  want  some  such  general 
supervision  as  I  have  now  described,  I  fear,  very  imperfectly. 
I  should  rejoice  if,  under  its  canopy,  but  without  being  subject 


M.  DESCOMBAZ.  ^„ 


to  Its  control,  all  the  evangelical  denominalionH  of  Kaiuhurgh 
could  be  brought  out  to  thig  groat  and  g(K,d  work.  1  U.|,c»e 
that  nothing  would  tend  more  rapidly  and  sundy  to  the  furnu. 
tion  of  a  real  union  among  us  than  our  bring  thu»  engaged 
m  similar  works,  yet  meeting  together  ujH,n  the  oocawon  of 
your  general  meetings,  and  there  provoking  each  other  to  love 
and  to  all  that  is  good.      I  am,  my  dear  8ir.  yonrn  very  truly. 

Thomas  Ciiai.iierh. 

No.  CCCLI. — Letter  to  M.  Descomuaz,  Lavaasmk. 

Eni.NBt  ROH.  '2Hlh  Ffbruury,  1N46. 

My  dear  JSir — I  can  assure  you  it  ig  from  no  want  of 
sympathy  in  your  great  cause  that  I  have  not  written  MMiner. 
but  from  extreme  occupation — and  occupation,  let  me  a<id. 
greatly  beyond  my  strength  and  time  satisfuctorily  to  over- 
take. Though  I  should  not  write  much,  then,  or  nhould  not 
write  often,  I  beg  you  will  put  the  right  intt-rpretation  upon 
it,  and  ascribe  it  to  any  thing  rather  than  an  indiljerence 
either  to  the  magnitude  of  your  wrongs  or  the  nuldeneM  of 
those  pure  and  high  principles  by  which  you  are  actuated. 
The  same  reasons  which  have  compelled  me  to  retire  from 
the  public  business  of  our  own  Church,  have  al»o  made  it  nec- 
essary for  me  greatly  to  limit  the  work  of  <-■  i  ■  ucc. 
Every  thing,  in  fact,  which  involves  in  it  aii<ir>  ".or 
the  withdrawment  of  my  mind  from  more  iiiitiHMii.itc  UutiM 
and  cares,  I  must  now  devolve  on  abler  and  younger  men. 

But  while  I  have  thus  to  state,  and  I  do  it  with  extreoia 
regret  and  reluctance,  the  utter  impossibiUty  of  romplyiog 
with  your  wishes  for  a  regular  or  frequent  corrti*|M>ndeiiee. 
I  can  not,  even  within  the  limits  of  this  nere«.Mnly  bnef  <Him- 
munication,  reiiain  from  adverting  to  <he  dilhrull.  at  well  a* 
high  and  honorable  distinction  of  the  position  in  which  jroo 
now  stand  ;  and  it  is  my  earnest  prayer  that,  by  grace  and 
guidance  from  above,  you  might  be  enabled  to  munUm  iL 
It  were  well  if  all  Christians  but  knew  how  to  oornbane  tb« 
utmost  dependence  on  God  with  the  utnwt  dilifooec  m  tb« 


428  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

busy  use  and  employment  of  means,  and  so  as  to  reconcile 
the  wisdom  of  piety  with  the  wisdom  of  experience.  Other- 
wise, under  the  guise  of  trusting  in  God,  there  might  be  a 
tempting  of  God  ;  and  therefore  let  me  urge  with  all  earnest- 
ness upon  your  consideration  the  necessity  of  speedily  adopt- 
ing such  methods  as  might  best  conduce,  with  the  Divine 
blessing,  to  the  stability  and  extension  of  your  Free  Church. 
You  may  have  heard  the  saying  of  our  missionary  Elhot,  who 
labored  for  years,  and  with  such  marvelous  success,  among 
the  American  Indians  :  He  did  not  trust  to  prayer  without 
performance,  neither  did  he  trust  to  performance  without 
prayer — he  was  super-eminent  in  both ;  and  as  the  fruit  of 
the  experience  of  a  whole  lifetime,  he  left  behind  him  the 
memorable  lesson,  that  it  was  in  the  power  of  prayer  and  of 
pains,  through  faith  in  Christ  Jesus,  to  do  any  thing.  What 
I  should  regard,  then,  as  the  first  and  firmest  guarantee  for 
the  prosperity  and  strength  of  your  Free  Church,  were  the 
growth  and  effusion  of  serious,  spiritual  religion  and  vital 
godliness  among  your  ministers  and  congregations.  This  is 
the  object  which,  of  all  others,  is  mightily  to  be  labored  and 
mightily  to  be  prayed  for.  No  organization,  however  skill- 
fully devised,  will  supply  the  want  of  this.  The  best  of  all 
machinery  requires  to  be  worked ;  for  the  attainment  of  its 
end,  to  be  rightly  and  well  worked.  Behold  then  the  limits 
of  human  ingenuity  and  power.  We  can  set  up  the  frame- 
work and  mechanism  of  a  church,  but  we  are  wholly  de- 
pendent on  the  Spirit  of  God  for  the  men^  and  should  there- 
fore pray  without  ceasing  to  the  Lord  of  the  harvest,  that  He 
might  send  forth  unto  His  harvest  laborers,  according  to  His 
own  heart,  who  might  feed  his  people  with  knowledge  and 
spiritual  understanding.  But  both  are  best.  We  must  not 
neglect  the  rearing  of  a  right  terrestrial  apparatus  below  ; 
because  without  a  celestial  influence  from  above,  it  were  the 
mere  barren  architecture  of  a  church  with  none  of  that  liv- 
ing spirit  which  should  actuate,  and  which  can  alone  give 
efficacy  to  all  its  services.     It  is  most  true  that,  except  the 


M.  DESCOMBAZ. 


Lord  build  the  house,  they  labor  in  vain  that  build  il;  but 

this   should  not  dischar<re  the  builders  from  their  work a 

work  to  which  they  should  put  forth  tlieir  liands  wiih  all  dil- 
igence while  looking  for  the  indij^pensablo  grace  from  on 
high,  without  which  all  the  wisdom  of  man  in  but  ItHiliBh- 
ness,  and  all  the  work  of  man  is  but  as  labor  in  the  fire,  ind 
for  very  naught. 

March  1th. — I  had  got  thus  far  when  I  was  obliged  to 
suspend  this  whole  communication  for  a  whole  wcn^k  by  the 
pressure  of  other  business,  ajid  that  pressure  still  contiiiueHi  ; 
uor  have  I  any  hope  of  being  relieved  frotu  it  for  an  mdelio- 
ite  time.  I  am  unwilling,  however,  to  delay  any  longer  the 
answering  of  your  letter,  and  can  only  now  assure  you  of  my 
readiness  to  obtain  all  the  information  which  our  cxpcriruc« 
might  enable  us  to  collect,  and  which  nught  bo  of  ut»e  ft»r  lh« 
support  or  extension  of  your  Free  Church.  In  particular.  l»»l 
any  advice  or  opinion  be  required  of  us  on  the  siibjrcl  of 
church  economics,  let  your  wish  be  specifically  stated,  and  I 
think  I  might  help  you  to  a  specific  answer  in  regard  In  it 

My  earnest  prayer  is  for  the  maintenance  and  spread  of 
vital  godliness  among  you — a  spirituality  unallnyrd  by  any 
political  or  worldly  ingredient — a  real  tlfsire  for  the  moral 
and  Christian  gootl  of  the  people  under  your  chnrg««  ;  so  that 
your  interesting  section  of  the  great  vineyard  miphl.  with  the 
descent  of  the  indispensable  grace  from  on  high.  Ijrrome  like 
a  well-watered  garden,  abounding  with  the  fair  and  pleaaanl 
fruits  of  righteousness.  I  ever  am.  my  vcr)'  dear  sir.  youra 
with  the  greatest  esteem  and  regard, 

Thomas  Chalmkbb. 


[23    Bnint    Place,  Rtnfrtu)    Street.  GIfUgow,    llfA    Md 

Reverf.nd  and  dkar  Sir— I  woulcj  take  th«  li»— ^'^  .f.h.rt 


inir  to  vou  my  desire  that  ynu  wonM  u^c  y<.iir 
General  Assf'ml.ly  for  tho  fomnlation  of  n  Fr. .    ' 
city,  whi.-h.  I  think,  is  imm«-<linifly  callrcl  l..r.  i- 
ment  of  the  Free  Church  of  Soociand  in  ih«  «r< 


.««L     1  urn 


430  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

more  and  more  convinced  that  the  magistrate  should  be  a  keeper  of 
both  tables  of  the  law,  and  is  bound  to  endow  and  protect  the  Church 
of  Christ.  May  the  Lord  hasten  this  in  his  time.  With  God  nothing 
shall  be  impossible.    I  am  yours  with  much  esteem,  John  Craig. 

The  Rev.  Thomas  Chalmers,  Edinburgh.] 

No.  CCCLIL— To  Mr.  John  Craig. 

Burntisland,  \&th  May,  1846. 
Dear  Sir — Accept  of  my  grateful  regards  for  your  expres- 
sions of  kindness  to  myself.    I  am  very  glad  to  observe  what 
your  opinion  is  in  regard  to  the  duty  of  the  magistrate,  to  en- 
dow and  protect  the  Church  of  Christ. 

I  have  all  along  said  that  once  our  Church  were  sufficient- 
ly extended  by  means  of  adequate  funds,  that  I  saw  no  reason 
why  we  should  not  have  as  many  collegiate  institutions  as 
ever  the  Establishment  had.     I  am,  dear  sir,  yours  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 


[The  following  letter  was  in  an  answer  to  a  very  interesting  communi- 
cation from  Mr.  Barclay,  in  which  he  proposed  that,  instead  of  annual 
payments  into  the  Sustentation  Fund,  an  endowment  of  dfilOO  per  an- 
num should  at  once  be  secured  for  every  minister  of  the  Free  Church. 
Tables  and  calculations  were  offered  for  Dr.  Chalmers's  consideration, 
from  which  it  appeared  that,  if  all  the  members  of  the  Free  Church 
were  to  give  a  tithe  of  their  income  for  a  single  year,  a  capital  sum 
would  be  realized  sufficient  to  yield  such  an  endowment.] 

No.  CCCLIIL— To  J.  Barclay,  Esq.,  Tongue. 

Edinburgh,  6th  June,  1846. 
Dear  Sir — I  received  your  valuable  packet  from  Mr.  Mac- 
kenzie of  Farr.  I  appreciate  very  highly  the  zeal,  intelli- 
gence, and  labor  in  behalf  of  the  Free  Church,  of  which  these 
documents  give  such  abundant  evidence.  I  shall  lodge  them 
with  the  convener  of  our  Sustentation  Committee,  to  be  kept 
by  him  in  retentis  till  it  shall  be  judged  expedient  to  act 
upon  them.  iVTean while,  our  great  efibrt  is  to  bring  up  the 
associations;  and  we  are  fearful  of  every  new  subscription 
for  a  new  object,  lest  it  should  distract  the  attention  of  the 


J.  BARCLAY,  ESQ.  431 


Free-Church  public  from  the  nt-ccspary  means  for  upboldinf 
and  augmenting  the  Siistcntation  Fuml.  After  the  habit  of 
supporting  it  is  suffioienlly  established  and  elevali-d,  then.  1 
think,  will  be  the  time  for  giving  etlect  to  your  mapnifjcent 
proposal.  I  have  no  doubt  of  the  ca])abilitie8  of  our  fieople. 
They  are  equal  to  a  ten-fold  greater  achievement  llum  all 
that  has  yet  been  done  by  them. 

Allow  me  to  say  that  I  doubt  the  exj>cdiency  of  miniHtert 
being  employed  in  the  work  of  estimating  the  rcwurce*  of 
their  people. 

I  have  again  to  thank  yoii  for  your  nt>ble  t<ugpeHtioni»,  which 
I  trust  you  in  good  time  will  find  are  not  to  be  thrown  ;i\vav 
upon  us.     I  ever  am,  my  dear  sir,  yours  truly, 

Thomas  Cuai  . 

No.  CCCLIV. 

EDiKBraon,  \7th  Septnnhrr,  1846. 

Sir — I  received  both  your  letters.  The  first  I  laid  afidc, 
because  of  my  great  aversion  to  any  direct  apphcation  for  my 
autograph  ;  and  in  virtue  of  which  it  is  my  gencnd  practice 
to  leave  all  such  requests  unanswered. 

Your  second  letter,  of  May  Gth,  I  jilaccd  amon^  the  lelten 
to  which  I  might  reply  ;  because  1  felt  a  wi»h  at  the  lime 
to  let  you  know  the  grounds  of  my  antipathy  to  a  praclire 
which  I  think  is  not  in  accordance  with  pood  ta*t<». 

I  find,  however,  that  I  have  not  time  for  the  full  statement 
of  these  grounds  ;  and  shall  only  say  in  the  general  that  I 
feel  as  if,  on  the  one  side,  the  making  of  such  a  request  im- 
phes  a  certain  degree  of  indelicary  ;  and  on  the  other  side. 
that  in  the  granting  of  it  there  must  be  a  certain  sonsc  of  awk- 
wardness, as  the. very  act  invnlvo.  at  Kast  the  semblaiico  of 

vanity.  ■    ,  a 

And  yet  the  desire  of  havu.g  a.iu.,L'«aphs  is  IcgiiuMic  aiid 
natural  ;  but  the  n.^ht  way  to  .0  alK>..t  the  f'^""-*^/^* 
collection  is  to  seek,  and  not  from  the  ,>enK.n  h.mNrlf.  but 
from  any  of  his  correspondent.,  such  lelU-rs  or  fia^meoU  M 


432  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

his  handwriting  as  can  any  where  be  found.  I  should  im- 
agine that  to  every  man  who  feels  as  he  ought,  a  naked  re- 
quest for  his  autograph  must  be  extremely  distasteful.  In  send- 
ing you  this  autograph,  it  is  a  relief  that  I  should  have  some- 
thing to  write  about  ;  and  all  the  more  so,  that  along  with 
the  autograph  you  have  my  testimony  against  the  method  in 
which  they  are  sometimes  sought  after  both  by  individuals 
and  by  such  public  bodies  as  you  represent.  With  best  wish- 
es for  the  prosperity  of  your  museum,  I  have  the  honor  to  be, 
sir,  yours  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 


[BoMBAV,  25th  June,  1850. — Dear  Dr.  Hanna — I  have  just  finished 
the  perusal  of  the  first  volume  of  the  "  Memoirs  of  Dr.  Chalmers," 
W'hich,  Hke  his  "  Posthumous  Works,"  not  only  maintains,  but  elevates 
the  high  position  which  his  name  and  character  occupy  in  the  admi- 
ration and  veneration  of  Christendom.  It  has  suggested  the  propriety 
of  sending  to  you  a  copy  of  a  very  touching  and  affectionate  letter  ad- 
dressed hy  him  to  my  young  friend  Dhanjibhai  on  his  leaving  Scotland 
on  his  return  to  India,  and  also  of  a  copy  of  an  introductory  note  to 
M.  F.  Monod,  which  he  had  intended  him  to  deliver  had  he  taken  Par- 
is on  his  way.  Dr.  Chalmers  took  a  very  special  interes't  in  the  well- 
being  of  Dhanjibhai  from  the  time  of  their  first  interview,  and  he  was 
greatly  attached  to  him.  At  the  conclusion  of  the  session  of  1843-4, 
he  addressed  to  me  a  note  of  the  following  tenor  :  "  My  dear  Sir,  I 
must  do  myself  the  pleasure  of  informing  you  that  1  have  been  greatly 
pleased  with  the  interesting  pupil  whom  you  have  brought  to  me  from 
the  far  East.  His  appearances  in  his  examinations  and  exercises 
have  been  of  a  first-rate  character  throughout  the  session."  1  felt 
much  his  kindness  to  me  in  voluntarily  tendering  to  me  this/testimo- 
nial,  which  he  knew  would  be  very  gratifying  to  my  heart. 

With  much  sympathy  with  all  the  family  of  Dr.  Chalmers  from 
Dhanjibhai  and  mvself,  I  am,  my  dear  Dr.  Hanna,  yours  very  truly, 

John  Wilson.] 

No.  CCCLV. — To  E.EV.  Dhanjibhai  Nowroji. 

MoRNiNGSiDE,  14th  December ,  1846. 
My  dear  Sir — The  three  inclosed  letters  are  to  friends 
in  Paris,  which  you  may  deliver  or  not,  just  as  you  find  con- 
venient,     [f  you  have  not  the  opportunity  of  these  being  use- 
ful to  you  ill  Paris,  I  beg  that  you  will  keep  and  open  them, 


REV.  DHANJIBHAl  NOWKOJl.  433 


and  an  occasion  may  cast  up  when  you  might  show  these  as 

the  testimonials  of  my  iViendship  and  eslci'in  for  you  1  wi»h 
I  could  recollect  any  olniy  acquaintances  in  Bombay  to  whom 
I  might  write  aught  that  could  be  of  service  ;  but  you  will. 
at  all  events,  ofi'er  my  best  regards  to  Mr.  Ncsbit  and  Mr. 
Hislop  when  you  meet  with  them. 

And  now,  my  very  dear  sir,  let  me  comineud  you  lo  iho 
providence  and  grace  of  our  common  Father  m  heaven.  May 
He  be  your  guide  and  guardian  amid  all  the  penis  and  per- 
plexities of  your  great  enterprise.  He  has  prouiised  thai  Ho 
will  not  sufl'er  His  faithful  servants  to  be  tried  beyond  what 
they  are  able  to  bear,  but  will  provide  a  way  of  cwajw  that 
they  might  be  able  to  bear  it.  May  the  aids  of  I  lis  Spirit 
never  be  wanting  to  comfort,  and  strengthen,  and  luslain  you, 
and  richly  may  you  experience  the  truth  of  our  blewed  Sav- 
ior's declaration,  that  though  in  the  world  you  shall  have 
tribulation,  in  Him  you  shall  have  peace  ;  and  may  you 
abundantly  prosper  in  that  work  and  labor  of  love  upon 
which  you  have  entered.  May  you  have  many  »o"i«  for  your 
hire,  and  the  precious  foretastes  of  that  bright  and  happy  pe- 
riod when  the  Sun  of  Rigliteousiies.s  shall  ari*o  over  the  face 
of  a  regenerated  world,  it  is  my  earnest  prayi-r  for  you.  that 
after  a  life  of  great  Christian  usefulnesa  here  you  may  be  ad- 
mitted to  the  city  that  hath  foundations,  and  obtain  a  crowa 
of  glory  that  fadeth  not  away.  Let  me  entreat  a  part  and 
interest  in  your  prayers  ;  I  have  great  need  of  them,  and  beg 
that  you  will  remember  me  in  your  intercessions  at  ihr  Throne 
of  Grace.  "  The  Lord  bless  thee  and  keep  thee  :  the  Uni 
make  His  face  shine  upon  thee  and  be  gracious  unto  ihee  . 
the  Lord  lift  up  His  countenance  upon  iheo  and  give  iheo 

^'wUh  the  heartfelt  regards  and  wishet  both  o(  mpelf^nd 
family,  ever  believe  me.  my  very  dear  sir.  yours  ni.>.t  U:»derly 
and  truly.  Tuom^  tiiAi.«E«. 

V.  T 


434  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


No.  CCCLVI.— To  Miss  Mackean. 

Edinburgh,  2d  January,  1847. 

My  very  dear  Miss  Mackean — I  return  you  my  most  cor- 
dial thanks  for  your  donation  in  behalf  of  the  "West  Port. 

I  have  great  reason  to  bless  God  for  the  liberality  which 
He  has  put  into  the  hearts  of  His  people  in  behalf  of  that 
great  object,  of  which  I  am  most  thankful  to  say  that  hith- 
erto it  has  prospered  and  is  promising. 

I  had  received  copies  of  Dr.  Edgar's  tract,  which  expresses 
what  I  have  long  thought  the  only  hopeful  method  of  deal- 
ing with  Ireland.  "What  an  incubus  is  their  Popery  on  the 
territorial  system  and  every  thing  that  is  good  I 

But  what  fearfully  harrowing  accounts  there  are  of  want 
and  extreme  agony  in  that  unhappy  land,  to  be  yet  aggra- 
vated ten-fold  ere  the  seasons  come  round  again,  and  not  even 
then,  unless  the  Lord  of  the  seasons  shall  open  His  liberal  and 
ever-giving  hand.  Ever  believe  me,  my  dear  madam,  yours 
most  gratefully  and  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCCLVIL — To  Rev.  Alexander  Anderson,  Aberdeen. 

Edinburgh,  20th  March,  1847. 
My  dear  Sir — I  shall  be  at  all  times  happy  to  see  you  on 
the  subject  of  your  proposed  gymnasium.  But  do  come  to 
breakfast,  for  it  is  only  then  that  I  can  answer  for  being  dis- 
engaged. Do  persevere  in  your  good  work.  The  greatest 
amount  of  philanthropic  service  is  secured  by  leaving  each 
man  to  ride  his  own  hobby.  Your  object  is  one  of  vital  mag- 
nitude ;  and  I  would  much  rather  that  you  concentrated  your 
whole  energies  upon  it  than  that  you  should  become  a  man 
of  all  works — the  tendency  to  which  I  look  upon  as  a  very 
great  failing.  There  is  little  good  done  by  your  mere  Uni- 
versalists.  Do  therefore  persevere,  and  may  God  prosper  you. 
I  ever  am,  my  dear  sir,  yours  very  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 


ON  THE  IMPROVEMENT  OF  AFFLICTION.  436 


[Claydon  House,  Bucks,  2Sth  April,  1847— My  dkak  Si»--Am 
I  taking  too  firreat  a  liberty  with  you.  and  prcmiminfr  to*i  much  «kj  my 
former  acquaintance  with  you,  if  I  request  some  uifornmlujn  u  u>  ycmr 
views  on  the  Government  Education  Scheme  ? 

I  have  read  with  much  interest  the  speeches  of  Dr.  CandtUh  ami  Mr 
Begg  in  the  Free  Presbytery  «)f  Edinburgh,  on  the  7«h  in«»t.,as  rcpf»rt. 
ed  in  the  '"Scottish  Guardian'"  of  the  13th,  and  especially  your  letter 
of  the  3d,  read  at  that  meeting. 

In  paragraph  No.  1,  you  say.  "  I  believe  that  there  are  modificationii 
upon  their  scheme  which  might  be  made,  and  which  w«Kild  pire  no  oth- 
er character  to  the  movement  on  the  part  of  the  state  than  a  drwirr  for 
the  elevation  of  the  people  in  general  jntelligonco  and  scholanibip ,  ah 
object  which  we  should  no  more  resist,''  &c.,  &c. 

Am  I  trespassing  too  much  on  you,  if  I  ask  y«>u  to  tell  roe  what  tboae 
modifications  are  ?  I  desire  to  know  whether  any  9ug(;e«tioo«  ro»ild 
be  made  to  the  government,  which  if  adopted,  would  render  tbeir  plan 
unobjectionable  in  your  opinion.  1  am,  ray  dear  sir,  yours  very  faiib- 
fully  and  truly,  Harey  Veetiky. 

To  Rev.  Dr.  Chalmers.] 

No.  CCCLVIII.— To  Sir  Harry  Verney 

Edinbi  RGH,  4/A  May.  I«47 
My  dear  Sir  Harry — I  have  read  your  letter  with  the 
greatest  interest,  and  regret  that,  on  the  eve  of  »ctting  out 
upon  a  distant  journey,  I  can  not  reply  to  it  at  any  Icnjrth 
The  modifications  that  I  should  like  would  be  that  the  (for- 
ernment  were  to  drop  the  requisition  of  any  certificate  from 
the  managers  of  the  school,  that  they  were  satisfied  with  the 
religious  progress  of  the  scholars  ;  and  I  should  further  like 
that  there  was  no  power  granted  cither  to  the  Church  of  Kn- 
gland,  or  to  any  other  denomination,  to  force  their  peculiar 
Catechism  upon  scholars  against  the  will  of  their  parents. 
and  still  less  to  force  attendance  against  that  will  on  their 
own  places  of  worship.  1  am,  my  dear  Sir  Harry,  with  th« 
greatest  esteem,  Thomas  Chalucm. 


No.  CCCLIX.— On  visiting  a  Family  in  ^-mcn  a  Scddr* 
Death  had  occibbeu. 
My  dear  Sir— 1  am  so  particularly  taken  up  bv  prvrioos 


436  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

arrangements  to-day,  and,  I  fear,  also  to-morrow,  that  I  shall 
not  be  able  to  see  you  again  so  soon  personally  as  I  could 
wish.     But  the  scene  of  last  night  makes  me  very  desirous  of 
communicating  with  you  some  way  or  other.     I  was  very 
thankful  you  invited  me  to  witness  it,  for  it  was  a  truly  im- 
pressive one,  and  eminently  fitted  to  stir  up  in  the  heart  of 
every  beholder  a  salutary  feeling  of  the  vain  and  transient 
character  of  our  present  pilgrimage  ;  and  I  trust  I  felt  that  it 
is  better  to  go  to  the  house  of  mourning  than  to  the  house  of 
feasting,  for  that  is  indeed  the  end  of  all  men,  and  that  the 
living  may  lay  it  to  heart.     In  a  disaster  so  big,  and  at  the 
same  time  so  sudden  and  unlooked-for  as  that  which  has 
come  upon  yourself  and  family,  it  is  impossible  to  minister 
any  effectual  consolation  without  you  go  to  the  root  of  the 
matter — every  thing  short  of  that  argument  which  embraces 
the  great  elements  of  religion,  and  eternity,  and  the  soul,  and 
its  meetness  for  the  enjoyment  of  God  in  heaven,  is  but  su- 
perficial and  vain.     The  healing  influence  of  time  will  bring 
round  the  mind  of  an  afflicted  man,  even  without  Christian- 
ity, to  its  wonted  tone  ;   but  how  desirable  that  our  comfort 
should  be  secured  on  a  better  foundation,  that  it  should  come 
to  a  place  in  the  heart  not  by  the  mere  wearing  away  of  sor- 
row, but  by  the  firm  suggestions  of  an  understanding  exercis- 
ing itself  on  the  realities  of  faith,  and  fetching  from  the  Di- 
vine word  such  considerations  as  will  bring  peace  and  the 
peaceable  fruits  of  righteousness  along  with  them.     You  feel 
now  what  you  never  felt  so  nearly  and  so  experimentally  be- 
fore, that  the  world  ought  never  to  be  counted  a  place  of  rest. 
It  is  indeed  a  great  delusion  ever  to  feel  otherwise ;  but  still 
it  is  a  delusion  which  is  always  hanging  about  us,  and  that 
attaches  to  the  fallen  and  estranged  state  of  our  natures  from 
God.      At  this  moment  the  delusion  is  in  your  case  for  a  time 
broken  up.      I  prophecy  that  it  will  again  return,  if  there  be 
no  visitation  of  grace  from  on  high — no  anointing  which  re- 
maineth — no  favorable  and  abiding  demonstration  of  the  Spir- 
it of  God  to  advance  your  present  feeUng  into  a  practical  hab- 


MRS.  M'CORQUODALE 


4S7 


it  and  principle  of  the  soul.  You  are  at  this  moment  made 
most  intimately  and  efiectually  to  understand,  that  to  lean 
upon  the  world  is  to  lean  upon  a  ioundation  of  dust  ;  that  lo 
build  your  tabernacle  here,  is  to  build  your  house  upon  the 
sand  ;  and  that  nothing  will  fill  and  satisfy  the  soul,  and  en- 
able it  to  stand  all  the  changes  and  vioigsitudfi  of  this  event- 
ful pilgrimage,  but  a  renouncing  of  the  world  as  our  homo, 
and  taking  the  inheritance  that  ondureth  forever  an  our  por- 
tion. I  know  nothing  that  more  eireclually  hinders  a  man 
from  venturing  his  all  on  Christ  than  that  divided  ulalc  of 
affections,  in  either  of  which  he  would  like  to  rcK'rve  a  por- 
tion to  himself.  "  You  will  not  come  unto  me  that  you  may 
have  life."  You  never,  my  dear  sir,  were  in  more  favorable 
circumstances  for  an  unqualified  resignation  of  all  into  Hii 
hands  than  at  this  moment ;  to  whom  else,  alas !  can  you  go ' 
You  never  got  so  buried  to  the  world  as  now,  when  the  dear- 
est of  all  its  objects  has  been  torn  away  from  you — when  the 
desire  of  your  heart  has  been  cut  down  by  a  stroke — when 
your  family  are  all  in  sad  grief,  desponding  under  the  presa- 
ure  of  a  great,  unlooked-for,  and  overwhelming  viuilalion  Do 
improve  the  favorable  season  with  all  your  might  to  be  a  new 
creature  in  Christ  Jesus  ;  let  all  old  things  be  done  away. 
and  all  things  become  new  ;  the  verj-  retirement  will  animate 
and  bear  you  up  under  the  heaviness  of  your  prest-nl  nrouro- 
stances,  and  present  calamity  will  indeed  be  a  blc«ing  in  dit- 
guise  if  it  lead  you  to  a  close  alliance  wiih  Him,  who.  though 
a  God,  is  also  a  JSavior.     I  am,  kc, 

Tmomas  Chalmcr!) 

No.  CCCLX.— To  Mrs.  M'Corquooalb. 

Gl.ASOOw,  Btk  October,  1817 

Dear  Mad.\m— 1  should  have  replied  long  ■go  to  your  kind 
letter,  but  I  have  of  late  been  a  good  deal  occupied  II  f«v«« 
me  sincere  pleasure  to  be  informed  of  your  earnt-l  dvirc  aflrr 
that  which  is  right,  and  more  parHrularly  of  y.  n« 

of  the  necessity  of  religiously  training  your  y.-  ■      1 


438  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

pray  that  you  may  be  directed  by  Him  who  is  the  Father  of 
Light,  and  will  give  wisdom  to  all  who  believingly  ask  it. 

There  is  a  very  leading  and  prominent  doctrine  of  the  Bible, 
without  the  belief  of  which  and  influence  of  which  I  fear  that 
all  our  longings  after  excellence  will  turn  out  to  be  vain  and 
impotent  aspirations — I  mean  the  doctrine  of  salvation  by  a 
crucified  Savior.  To  think  of  obtaining  this  favor  of  God 
by  mere  unaccompanied  exertion,  and  that  too  in  the  face  of 
God's  own  declaration,  that  without  Christ  we  can  do  noth- 
ing, is  in  fact  to  insult  Him  by  a  vain  and  polluted  offering. 

Let  us  accept  of  forgiveness  on  the  footing  that  is  held  out 
to  us — even  that  Christ  died  for  our  offenses ;  and  let  us  ren- 
der obedience  in  the  strength  of  that  Spirit  which  is  ever  in 
readiness  to  be  given  to  the  prayer  of  believers,  and  we  shall 
serve  God  with  a  holiness,  and  a  love,  and  a  spirituality  that 
do  not  enter  as  ingredients  at  all  into  the  tasteful  morality 
of  the  world ;  and  the  whole  course,  and  motive,  and  char- 
acter of  our  virtue  will  be  so  different  from  what  it  was  be- 
fore, that  all  old  things  will  be  done  away,  and  all  things  will 
become  new. 

I  beg  your  indulgence  for  these  observations  ;  they  come 
from  one  who  is  deeply  sensible  of  his  shortcomings  from  what 
is  right.  But  I  trust  that  through  earnest  attention  to  the 
Bible,  and  prayer  for  that  Spirit  who  alone  can  enlighten  us 
in  the  discernment  of  its  doctrine,  and,  above  all,  steadfast 
confidence  in  Him  who  casteth  out  none  who  come  unto  Him, 
we  shall  each  of  us  be  enabled  to  maintain  that  walk  of  faith 
and  of  holiness  which  leads  to  the  Jerusalem  above. 

Give  my  best  compliments  to  Mr.  M'Corquodale,  in  which 
Mrs.  Chalmers  joins;  and  with  best  wishes  for  yourself  and 
family,  believe  me,  my  dear  madam,  yours  most  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCCLXL— To  Mrs.  M'Corquodale. 

St.  Andrews,  11  th  October,  1827, 
My  dear  Madam — I  very  sincerely  condole  with  you  on 


MISS  M'CORQUOUALE. 


the  heavy  bereavement  which  you  have  been  calletl  iijjon  to 
suffer,  the  first  loss  I  understand  in  your  faiully.and  which, 
in  the  absence  yet  of  all  personal  experience  inyscUupon  the 
subject,  I  should  regard  as  far  more  trying  to  nature  than  the 
dissolution  of  any  other  relationship.  Ailection  points  more 
strongly  downward — as  from  a  parent  to  children— than  in 
any  other  direction ;  and  when  I  think  of  the  guddenneM  of 
your  daughter's  death,  her  interesting  ape,  and  the  many  rari«i 
and  attentions  which  the  delicacy  of  her  health  has  required 
from  you,  and  which  all  go  to  strengthen  afl'ection  and  add 
to  its  tenderness — the  shock  you  have  experienced  mu»l  be  of 
no  common  severity.  And  what  other  comfort  ha*  one  liable 
to  the  same  visitations  to  offer,  but  those  consideration*  which 
are  familiar  to  all,  though  practically  felt  by  tew,  t-vi-n  the 
evanescence  of  our  present  world,  and  the  bliss  and  bright- 
ness of  that  invisible  heaven,  where  sorrow  and  separation 
are  unknown. 

We  hear  on  these  occasions  of  melancholy  of  the  healing 
influence  of  time,  and  refuge  is  often  taken  in  auch  expedi- 
ents, as  business,  variety,  and  entertainments.  These  may 
soothe,  but  they  do  not  sanctify.  Thoy  drown  the  ()ainfiil 
recollection ;  whereas  the  recollection  should  be  kept  alive, 
and  made  the  instrument  of  weaning  our  desires  and  expect- 
ations from  a  scene  so  transitory.  The  worldly  would  stifle 
the  thought — the  Christian  softens  it  by  pointing  his  cyo  up- 
ward to  God  and  forward  to  eternity.     I  am  yours,  Ace., 

Thomas  Ciulmei.8. 

No.  CCCLXII.— To  Miss  M'Corqiodale. 

MoRMiNosiDi,  24(A  Dtftmtxr,  1R43. 

My  dear  Miss  M'CoKquodale — It  is  of  great  con«^uence 

to  me  that  I  should  remain  all  this  week  in  the  country ,  but 
I  am  unwilling  that  it  should  pass  without  converse  of  aome 
sort  with  your  family. 

I  am  very  far  from  wishing  to  overtask  Mn.  M'Corqoodale 
with  too  much  in  quantity.     JSuch  ii  the  pn>eioa«»e««  of  Bible 


440  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

truth,  and  such  its  power  of  application,  that  a  single  verse 
might  often  suffice  for  a  sustaining  and  comforting  exercise 
to  the  mind  for  hours  together ;  and  I  think  I  can  not  do  bet- 
ter than  draw  up  a  brief  list  of  texts  for  you  to  read,  and  for 
her  to  dwell  upon. — Matthew,  xi.,  28,  29, 30.  She  might  lean 
the  full  weight  of  her  dependence  on  a  Savior  who  thus  calls 
upon  her. — Matthew,  xxiii.,  37.  Who  can  doubt  after  this 
His  longing  desire  after  all  who  have  any  desire  toward 
Him? — Matthew,  xxviii.,  5.  It  is  not  a  sentiment  of  terror, 
but  of  confidence  and  comfort,  that  we  should  associate  with 
the  thought  of  a  Savior,  and  with  the  attempt  to  seek  an  in- 
terest in  His  salvation. — Mark,  x.,  14.  Such  an  exhibition 
of  our  Savior  as  should  lead  us  to  place  all  reliance  on  His  be- 
nignity and  grace. — Luke,  vii.,  13.  Another  most  attractive 
representation  of  the  Savior,  and  fitted  to  assure  our  hearts 
of  His  feeling  for  the  distresses  of  men. — Luke,  xi.,  10,  11,  12, 
13.  A  mighty  encouragement  to  prayer,  and  that  whether 
for  ourselves  or  for  those  near  and  dear  to  us. — Luke,  xv.,  20. 
A  most  striking  demonstration  of  God's  willingness  for  our 
salvation,  and  of  the  welcome  from  Him  which  awaits  all  His 
returning  children. — John,  i.,  29  ;  iii.,  14, 15,  16,  17.  A  most 
inviting  call  on  us  to  look  to  the  Savior  on  the  cross ;  and  His 
errand,  which  was  not  to  condemn  but  to  save,  should  dissi- 
pate all  our  fears. — John,  xi.,  25,  26.  John,  xiv.,  1,  14.  Ro- 
mans, X.,  13.  2  Cor.,  v.,  19,  20,  21.  Hebrews,  iv.,  16  ;  vi., 
18,  19.  James,  i.,  17.  1  John,  i.,  7,  9  ;  iv.,  8,  9,  10,  14, 
16,  18,  19. 

It  is  my  earnest  prayer  that  the  heavy  trials  which  now 
lie  upon  your  family  may  turn  out  to  be  blessings  in  disguise  ; 
and  that  though  for  the  time  not  joyous  but  grievous,  they 
may  prove  to  be  those  light  afflictions  which  are  but  for  a 
moment,  and  which  work  out  for  us  a  far  more  exceeding  and 
eternal  weight  of  glory. 

With  best  regards  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  M'Corquodale,  and  to 
all  of  your  household,  I  am,  my  dear  Miss  M'Corquodale, 
yours  very  truly,  _,  Thomas  Chalmers. 


MISS  M'CORQUODALE.  44t 


^S. — The  fil'tylhirJ  ami  fifty-fourth  chapter*  oflMuah. 

T.  C 

No.  CCCLXIII— To  Miss  M'Corquodai.e. 

EpiNBtRt;n,   \9lh  January.   1R45. 

My  dear  Miss  M'Corquodale — I  beg  to  rfturn  my  best 
aekuovvledgraeiits  for  your  New  Year's  letter  l'  \^  •-  v.-rv 
acceptable  to  me. 

I  am  particularly  glad  that  these  Scripture  i-vis  hn.  u  i 
be  much  prized  by  you.  We  are  on  safe  and  sure  ground 
wheu  dealing  honestly  and  rightly  with  those  word*  of  which 
it  is  said  that  heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  away  ere  ihcy 
can  pass  away. 

It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  hear  of  your  sinter'*  rcftoim- 
tion  to  health.  May  she  ever  have  great  peace  and  joy  in 
believing,  and  attain  to  that  perfect  love  which  caalrlh  out 
fear.  When  the  great  question  between  us  and  GfKi  it  »ct- 
tied,  all  is  well ;  and  the  ills  of  life  may  annoy,  but  thry  will 
not  sink  us  to  despair. 

Let  me  commend  you  to  that  Bible  from  which  I  rcjoie* 
to  observe  that  you  derive  so  much  comfort. 

Were  I  asked  in  one  sentence  to  describe  the  likelieft  proo> 
ess  for  becoming  wise  unto  salvation,  I  should  My  that  it 
was  a  prayerful  reading  of  the  Bible.  Let  the  Spirit  but 
open  our  understandings  to  understand  the  Scriplurv*.  and 
then  shall  we  be  enabled  to  draw  water  out  of  the  wella  of 
salvation,  for  there,  and  there  alone,  have  we  the  words  of 
everlasting  life.  Give  my  Ix-st  regani*  to  both  your  tittcrt, 
and  to  your  brother,  whom  I  have  not  neen  for  a  lon^  time  ; 
as  also  to  your  father,  now  well  stricken  in  year*  May  He. 
whose  providence  has  spared  him  to  a  good  old  agr.  .hower 
down  upon  him  the  blessings  of  His  grace,  that  every  hour 
bringing  us  all  so  much  nearer  to  death  may  find  us  meru-r 
for  that'eternity  on  which  we  are  so  soon  to  enter.  Behev« 
me    mv  dear  Miss  M'Corquodale,  yours  very  irtily. 

Thomas  Chalmmi 

T  2 


442  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


No.  CCCLXIV. — To  Mrs.  Rutherford,  of  Edgerstone. 

Glasgow,  8th  November,  1822. 

My  dear  Madam — I  should  have  acknowledged  your  great 
kindness  to  me  long  ago,  and  have  given  some  expression  to 
those  feelings  wherewith  the  truly  memorable  visit*"  which  I 
paid  to  Edgerstone  has  inspired  me.  They  ought  to  be  the 
feelings  of  deepest  seriousness  ;  but  it  is  woeful  to  think  of 
our  obstinate  tendencies  to  earth  and  earthliness  ;  and  how 
soon  it  is  that  the  solemnity  awakened  by  death,  even  in  its 
most  appalling  form,  goes  into  utter  dissipation. 

This  melancholy  experience  of  our  own  heart  should  teach 
us  our  dependence  on  that  grace  by  which  we  are  forgiven, 
and  on  that  Spirit  by  which  we  are  sanctified. 

It  demonstrates  the  utter  vanity  of  trusting  to  our  own 
righteousness,  and  ought  to  humble  us  down  into  the  attitude 
of  being  clothed  upon  with  the  righteousness  of  another. 

It  is  delightful  to  think  that  he  on  whom  the  Savior  per- 
formed a  remarkable  cure,  was  not  only  found  clothed,  but 
in  his  right  mind.  And  in  like  manner,  there  is  still  an  in- 
separable union  between  our  being  covered  with  the  right- 
eousness of  Christ,  and  our  being  cleansed  by  the  washing 
of  regeneration  and  renewing  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Let  us 
not,  however,  wait  till  we  are  made  holy  ere  we  trust  in  the 
Savior  ;  but  a  better  and  more  encouraging  process  for  the 
helpless  sinner  is  first  to  let  us  trust  in  the  Savior,  and 
then  shall  we  be  sealed  with  the  Holy  Spirit  of  promise, 
(Eph.,  i.,  12).  What  a  precious  freeness  and  fullness  does  this 
view  confer  on  the  Gospel !  How  near  does  it  bring  salva- 
tion even  to  those  who  are  farthest  off'  in  alienation  from  God, 
who  calls  upon  us  even  in  this  stage  to  have  confidence  in 
Himself  as  God  in  Christ  reconciling  the  world  !  This  con- 
fidence would,  in  fact,  put  a  new  spiritual  feeling  into  our 
hearts — it  would  emancipate  them  from  the  servile  spirit  of 
bondage — it  would  draw  them  freely  and  affectionately  out 
*  See  Memoirs,  vol.  i.,  p.  365. 


MRS.  USHER. 


to  God  as  our  reconciled  Father.  It  would  impUnl  lore 
where  before  there  was  jealousy,  hatred,  and  di^Uu.t  And 
under  the  impulse  of  this  heaven-born  aHeclion.  will  we  ro 
spontaneously  forth  on  the  walk  of  new  obedience. 

Let  us,  therefore,  hold  fast  the  faith  whence  all  ihew  ble«. 
ings  flow,  not  casting  away  our  conildence,  which  hath  grt-at 
recompense  of  reward.  1  have  the  honor  to  be.  my  dc.r 
madam,  yours  with  the  greatest  esteem  and  regard. 

Thomas  riuLMERs. 

No.  CCCLXV.— To  Miib.  U.Mitu. 

Glasgow,  19/A  Sovember,  1822. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Usher— I  have  been  desiroui  of  writing 
you  ever  since  I  saw  you  last  at  CourlhiU  ;  and  indwd.  upon 
that  occasion  would  have  wished  to  talk  to  you.  and  to  lym- 
pathize  with  you  alone,  entering  as  I  do  into  your  deep  ior- 
row  with  all  the  feeling  of  a  most  devoted  friend,  and  anx- 
ious,  if  I  could,  to  contribute  any  thing  to  lighten  the  viiila- 
tion  wherewith  it  hath  pleased  a  good  but  mysterioui  Prov- 
idence to  exercise  yourself  and  your  dear  family. 

And  the  great  alleviation  in  all  our  calamities  is.  that  God 
reigneth,  and  that,  if  we  bow  in  resignation  to  Him,  He  will 
raise  us  up  again.  It  is  often  a  good  thing  to  have  our 
hearts  rent  asunder  from  the  world,  even  though  it  should 
have  cost  us  the  pain  of  a  most  violent  laceration  He  who 
wounds  can  heal,  and  be  assured  that  there  is  no  depth  of 
wretchedness  from  which  He  can  not  lift  us  up.  and  »ci  our 
feet  again  on  a  sure  place,  and  establish  all  our  goings,  and 
put  a  new  song  into  our  hearts,  even  glorj,'  to  CJod. 

This  is  a  vale  of  tears,  and  you  have  had  full  expeheaoe 
of  it.  Look  onward  to  a'bright  and  peaceful  tcrminauon  In 
a  few  years,  and  we  shall  all  lie  mouldering  in  our  gntf. 
But,  meanwhile,  a  pitying  Savior  calls  ujion  us  to  «pp«t>airh 
Him,  and  announces  to  us  the  power  of  His  sacrifice,  and 
bids  us  trust  in  His  atoning  blood  lor  the  forgivcn<«  of  all 
our  trespasses,  and  offer*  to  put  a  spirit  into  our  hearts  wbaiv- 


444  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

by  they  may  both  be  consoled  and  purified,  and  invites  us  to 
enter  through  Himself  into  reconciliation  with  God,  and  prom- 
ises that,  if  we  will  abide  in  Him,  He  will  abide  in  us, 
and  make  all  things,  even  the  darkest  events  of  our  history, 
work  together  for  our  good.  This  is  a  way  which  lies  open 
to  us  all,  and  great  will  be  our  peace  whenever  our  feet  are 
established  therein  ;  and  we  shall  even  count  it  all  joy  when 
we  fall  into  divers  tribulations — looking  onward  to  the  calm 
and  smiling  haven  where  all  sorrow,  and  sin,  and  separation 
are  unknown. 

It  is  indeed  my  earnest  prayer  that  God  would  both  sweet- 
en and  sanctify  to  you  the  cup  of  discipline.  There  is  a  great 
work  before  us  ere  we  die — to  become  holy  here,  that  we 
may  be  meet  for  being  happy  hereafter.  Christ  will  enable 
us  to  do  this  work  if  we  rely  upon  Him,  and  it  is  in  the  per- 
(ieption  of  its  readiness  for  eternity  that  the  soul  finds  its  best 
refuge  from  the  sorrows  of  time.    Believe  me,  &c., 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCCLXVL— To  Mrs.  Henry  Wood,  Edinburgh. 
St.  Andrews,  13th  September,  1826. 

My  dear  Madam — I  only  reached  St.  Andrews  yesterday, 
and  was  very  much  affected  by  the  intimations  from  Edin- 
burgh, the  melancholy  subject  of  which  was  altogether  new 
to  me.  Mrs.  Chalmers  and  my  family  share  with  me  in  a 
sorrow  which  must  well-nigh  overwhelm  yourself,  but  which, 
I  earnestly  pray,  may  be  soothed  and  sanctified  by  the  God 
of  all  comfort.  My  daughter  Anne  was  particularly  solem- 
nized by  the  recency  of  our  visit,  and  her  recollections  of  all 
the  kindness  that  we  had  gotten  under  your  roof.  The  walk 
from  Great  King  Street  to  the  Register  Office  is  powerfully 
and  touchingly  present  to  both  our  minds  ;  nor  do  I  remem- 
ber, in  the  whole  compass  of  my  experience,  a  more  impress- 
ive manifestation  of  God's  mysterious  sovereignty,  and  of 
man's  duty  to  be  humble,  and  watchful,  and  mindful  of 
death. 


WILLIAM  BUCHANAN,  ESQ. 


To  yourself  this  is  one  of  those  Biuiaen  and  awful  rcrul- 
sions  by  which  the  heart  is  agonized,  but  by  which  the  hcirl 
is  often  made  better.  When  the  nearest  and  dt-arctt  of  all 
earthly  relationships  is  dissolved,  the  soul,  thrown  Uito.  as 
it  were,  iiom  its  wonted  dependence,  may  be  led  iherrby  to 
keep  more  tenacious  liold  upon  an  enduring:  relationship 
How  precious  that  Gosj)el  by  which  we  are  invited  to  enter 
upon  its  privileges,  and  to  come  under  its  full  protection. 
God  in  Christ  offers  himself  to  all  in  the  capacity  of  a  friend 
who  sticketh  closer  than  a  brother  :  He  is  a  husband  to  the 
widow,  and  a  father  to  the  fathcrles.s  who  put  their  trust  in 
Him.  An  earthly  prop  has  fallen.  Lean  the  whole  wrifrht 
of  your  dependence  upon  God.  Put  full  conhdi-nce  both  in 
His  wisdom  and  in  His  mercy.  Be  thankful  for  all  the  rec- 
ollections that  you  have  of  that  evident  interest  which  your 
husband  felt  in  the  truths  of  the  Gospel,  and  let  ui  be  fol- 
lowers of  them  who  through  faith  and  patience  are  now  in- 
heriting the  promises. 

We  deeply  sympathize  with  your  afflicted  family,  and  »in- 
cerely  hope  that  the  health  neither  of  them  nor  of  your»olf 
will  permanently  suffer  by  the  shock  which  you  have  lufttain- 
ed.  The  same  God  who  hath  inflicted  the  wound  can  «l»o 
heal  it,  and  fill  up  the  desolate  void  of  this  sore  and  sudden 
bereavement  by  a  livelier  faith  than  ever  in  the  hn|>cs  and 
promises  of  the  Gospel.  We  beg  our  most  afn-rti.matc  con- 
dolence to  all  the  members  of  your  afflicted  household  .  and 
with  earnest  prayers  for  your  own  comfort  and  sanclificatwn 
under  this  heavy  calamity,  I  entreat  you  '"  »-li.v..  mr  mv 
dear  madam,  yours  very  affectionately, 

TlloMA-^  V  iiAi.¥i:r.» 

No.  CCCLXVII.— To  William  Buchanan.  Ejq  .  CtiAmiow. 

St.  A?«drew!».  Wth  .Iprxl.  \^n 
My  very  dear  Sir— I  received  our  friend  Mr  Brown's  let- 
ter with  its  most  affecting  intimation,  by  which  both   Mrs. 
Chalmers  and  I  have  been  moved  in  nn  orthnar>-  drprro     Thf 


446  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

desire  of  your  heart  has  indeed  been  cut  down  by  a  stroke, 
and  the  dreary  and  desolate  void  created  there  will  continue 
an  uneasiness  almost  insupportable  till  replaced  by  the  love, 
and  the  light,  and  the  positive  consolations  of  the  Gospel. 

And  this,  my  dear  sir,  is  one  great  use  of  affliction — one 
great  instrument  in  the  hand  of  a  loving  and  just  Father  by 
which  to  reclaim  our  wandering  affections  to  Himself  The 
heart  must  have  an  object ;  and  often  does  our  wise  Master 
in  heaven  tear  away  the  earthly  object  of  afi'ection  that  He 
may  fill  up  the  vacancy  by  Himself.  It  is  thus  that  I  un- 
derstand John,  XV.,  2  ;  and  it  is  thus  that  the  chastening  hand 
of  God,  though  not  joyous,  but  grievous  for  the  time,  yieldeth 
the  peaceable  fruit  of  righteousness  to  him  who  is  exercised 
thereby. 

And  what  rich  consolation  you  have  in  the  manner  of  the 
death  ;  what  gratitude  you  owe  for  the  testimony  that  she  has 
left  behind  her  ;  what  a  sweet  blending  even  of  the  affections 
of  nature  with  the  hopes  of  religion  in  the  precious  thought 
that  she  is  now  among  the  saints  in  heaven,  and  that  a  re- 
union with  her  will  be  one  ingredient  of  that  blessedness 
which  awaits  you  when  you  shall  enter  into  rest. 

I  feel  greatly  for  poor  Miss  Marshall — offer  to  her  our  re- 
spectful sympathies  ;  and  I  do  entreat  that,  under  this  heavy 
visitation,  you  will  know  that  "  God  is  the  Lord,  and  be  still." 

I  beg  further  to  be  remembered  to  your  mother,  Miss  Tay- 
lor, Mr.  and  Mrs.  Allan  Buchanan,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Walk- 
inshaw.     I  am,  my  dear  sir,  yours  most  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCCLXVIII.— To  William  Buchanan,  Esq. 

Edinburgh,  31st  January,  1847. 
My  very  dear  Sir — We  all  here  received  with  the  deep- 
est sympathy  and  feeling  the  very  melancholy  intelligence  of 
your  sou's  death — one  of  so  much  promise  cut  off  so  young, 
and  to  me  so  unexpectedly,  for  I  had  hoped  that  he  was  in 
i\\e  iklr  way  of  regaining  confirmed  health.     We  enter  into 


WILLIAM  BUCHANAN,  ESQ.  447 


all  your  grief  on  this  truly  aficcting  occasion  ;  and  vihilo  both 
Mis.  Chalmers  and  I  are  fully  aware  how  pauifully  ihi»  be- 
reavement must  be  felt  by  every  one  of  the  »orrowin{»  rcU- 
tions  in  your  household,  we  particularly  advert  to  Mim  Mar- 
shall as  among  the  chief  mourners  and  suflercrs  under  iho  vis- 
itation which  the  mysterious  yet  merciful  and  all-wi»o  (iod 
hath  seen  meet  to  lay  upon  you.  We  beg  that  you  will  oHcr 
our  most  aliectionate  condolences  both  to  her  and  to  all  your 
family,  and  the  assurance  of  our  prayers  that  an  event  to  fit- 
ted to  strike  and  to  solemnize  might  be  sanctified  to  one  and 
all  of  you.  The  chastisements  of  our  Father  in  heaven  are 
not  for  the  time  joyous,  but  grievous  ;  yet  do  they  yield  the 
peaceable  fruit  of  righteousness  to  those  who  are  rightly  ex- 
ercised thereby. 

Oh  that  these  numerous  instances  of  mortality  would  at 
length  practically  and  influentially  tell  ujwn  ui '  Sirange 
that  the  lesson  which  is  the  oftenest  repeated  should  be  also 
the  oftenest  forgotten,  so  that  we  need  to  be  ever  and  anou 
reminded  that  we  live  in  the  laud  of  dying  men.  May  the 
sorrow  of  nature  be  ripened  and  transmuted  by  Divine  |:r.i.  .' 
into  the  sorrow  which  worketh  repentance  unto  salva'.,-  n 
We  have  only  to  look  back  on  the  la«t  thirty  years  of  our  ac- 
quaintance to  be  impressed  by  the  changes  of  a  world  that 
will  soon  pass  away  from  all  of  us.  O  that  we  sat  more  looee 
to  the  cares  and  interests  of  time,  so  as  to  have  our  aflccUoos 
weaned  from  the  things  which  are  beneath,  and  wcddcJ  lo 
the  things  which  arc  above.  There  death  and  separation  are 
unknown  ;  and  it  might  well  mitigate  our  sorrows  when  we 
reflect  in  faith  on  that  place  of  unfading  bliss,  where  friends 
shall  meet  to  part  no  more,  and  be  forever  happy  wilh  ibe 

'Lord.  ^ 

It  is  my  earnest  prayer  that  God  would  lake  unto  Himseii 
His  own  power  and  reign  over  our  hearts ;  for  nothing  in  na- 
ture, though  operating  with  its  utmost  f..rcc  on  nature  .  •li'^e- 
lion  and  nature's  sensibilities,  will  of  itself  arou^  u.  fxcn  ih. 
incumbent  carnality  and  earthlines.  that  weifh  ao  h-T.ljr 


448  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

upon  our  hearts.  May  this  regenerating  influence  be  brought 
to  bear  with  effect  upon  us  all,  and  then  shall  we  be  trans- 
lated from  the  walk  of  sight  to  the  walk  of  faith,  and  not  only 
look  forward  to,  but  live  by  the  power  of  a  world  to  come. 

With  all  our  united  regards  to  yourself,  Miss  Marshall,  Miss 
Buchanan,  and  the  rest  of  your  family,  ever  believe  me,  my 
dear  sir,  yours  most  truly  and  with  great  regard, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

P.jS. — I  have  not  yet  written  poor  Mrs.  Brown.  I  have 
many  intimations  lying  by  me  unanswered.  This  month  I 
shall  have  written  twenty  such  replies.  May  we  be  wise  and 
understand  these  things,  and  consider  our  latter  end.     T.C. 

No.  CCCLXIX.— To  Mrs.  Campbell. 

St.  Andrews,  3d  September,  1828. 

My  dear  Madam — I  received  the  account  of  your  venera- 
ble husband's^^  death  with  great  emotion.  He  has  left  few 
equals  behind  him  in  the  Church  of  Scotland,  and  I  shall  ever 
cherish  a  pleasing  remembrance  of  all  the  fatherly  aid  and 
kindness  which  I  received  from  his  hands. 

As  a  theologian,  he  was  distinguished  by  the  extent  of  his 
learning  and  the  depth  of  his  views,  I  can  not  forget  a  con- 
versation I  held  with  him  in  a  stage-coach  from  Glasgow  to 
Edinburgh,  and  the  admirable  judgment  which  he  evinced 
on  some  of  the  most  arduous  speculations  which  are  ever  at- 
tempted by  the  human  understanding. 

But  your  brightest  comfort  now  must  be  in  your  recollec- 
tion of  his  piety.  May  the  God  of  all  consolation  bear  up 
you  and  yours  under  the  weight  of  this  afflictive  visitation, 
and  may  we  all  feel  how  salutary  it  is  to  be  made  to  drink 
of  the  cup  of  His  discipline,  and  to  be  the  objects  of  His  chas- 
tening love. 

I  beg  my  kindest  regards  and  the  expression  of  my  sym- 
pathy to  the  Misses  Campbell ;  and  with  every  assurance  of 
*  The  Rev.  Dr.  Campbell,  of  Edinburgh. 


MISS  YOUNG. 


respect  and  attachment,  I  am,  my  dear  madam,  youm  most 
*^"^y'  Thomas  Ciiai.mi:r8. 

No.  CCCLXX. — To  Miss  Young,  Burntisland. 

EuiNBrRoii,  15/A  October,  1831 

My  dear  Miss  Young — It  was  the  firm  purpose  both  of 
Mrs.  Chahners  and  myself  to  have  made  you  a  visit  either 
the  last  or  present  month  ;  but  her  delicacy  and  my  sprain 
have  prevented  it.  She  is  confined  to  bed.  and  I  am  under 
the  necessity  of  travelin*^  to  Glasgow,  so  that  we  must  poet- 
pone  our  visit  for  a  time. 

We  often  think  of  you,  of  the  loss  you  have  sustained,  but 
of  the  many  comforts  at  the  same  time  which  must  bear  you 
up  under  it.  I  never  in  my  life  witnessed  a  more  pi*afcful 
old  age  than  that  of  your  father  ;  and  to  me  it  formed  always 
a  most  interesting  peculiarity  in  his  case  that,  amid  the  sua- 
pension  of  all  his  other  faculties,  there  survivi-d  in  so  much 
freshness  and  feeling  his  sense  of  religion.  All  his  natural 
lights  grew  dim  with  age  ;  but  that  light  which  cometh  from 
the  sanctuary,  the  candle  of  the  Lonl,  never  was  extinfnii*h- 
ed,  and  hence  the  sacredness  as  well  as  the  serenity  of  his 
closing  years. 

Mrs.  Chalmers  desires  me  to  say,  that  though  wo  hare  not 
been  able  to  make  out  our  purpse  in  visiting  you,  wc  do  hope 
that  you  and  Miss  Betsy  will  come  to  us  in  the  rours<»  of  ihc 
winter.  With  best  compliments  to  her.  in  which  Mrs.  Chal- 
mers joins,  I  am,  my  dear  Miss  Young,  yours  \ovj  truly. 

TnnV.VS    CitALMEKA 

No.  CCCLXXI  — To  Mis5  Yoikg 

CRAtcilloi.il,  2d  Jpril.   1«37 

My  dear  Miss  Young— We  are  here  in  great  rowfnri  snd 
quietness,  though  we  feel  it  a  great  blank  that  your  houN.  la 
shut  at  present;  but  you  must  not  thmk  of  hastcninf  >o«r 
journey  homeward  ;  and.  erring  on  the  safe  $idc.  it  were  bel- 
ter that  you  made  the  movement  later  than  you  mifht.  rath- 
er than  earlier  than  you  ought  to  do. 


450  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

It  is  one  great  comfort  in  affliction,  that  it  draws  toward 
them  who  are  exercised  thereby  a  greater  tenderness  of  re- 
gard from  their  friends  on  earth ;  and  this  may  well  assure 
us  of  what  Scripture  tells,  that  it  in  like  manner  draws  a 
more  special  regard  from  our  kind  and  merciful  Father  who 
is  in  heaven.  And  accordingly  we  are  told  that  it  is  in  love 
that  He  chasteneth — that  He  afflicts  not  willingly — that  He 
has  no  pleasure  in  our  death — that  His  Son,  who  is  the  ex- 
press image  of  His  own  person,  is  touched  with  the  fellow- 
feeling  of  our  infirmities ;  and  surely  with  such  a  Father  and 
such  a  High-priest  at  His  right  hand,  we  may  well  rest  in 
the  quiet  confidence  that  we  are  in  good  hands,  and  that  all 
things  will  work  together  for  good  to  them  who  love  God. 

The  great  object  with  you  at  present  is  not  to  fatigue  your- 
self with  care  of  any  sort,  but  to  cast  that  care,  whatever  it 
may  be,  on  Him  who  careth  for  you.  The  defects  and  infirm- 
ities of  one's  own  spirit  may  well  grieve  us ;  but  even  this 
cause  of  uneasiness  is  best  disposed  of  by  rolling  it  over  upon 
God.  "  Take  this  heart,  such  as  it  is  :  make  it  such  as  it 
should  be."  Let  us  commit  our  souls  unto  Him,  and  He  will 
keep  that  which  is  so  committed.  He  will  bless  us  with  a 
present  as  well  as  a  future  salvation,  making  us  holy  by  grace 
here,  as  a  preparation  for  being  happy  in  the  eternal  glory 
that  is  to  be  revealed  hereafter. 

May  the  Bible  be  felt  by  you  in  all  its  preciousness ;  may 
its  verses  be  more  and  more  prized  as  pearls  of  consolation 
and  great  worth.  Take  in  all  the  comfort  of  them  ;  and 
instead  of  exercising  your  mind  upon  them,  so  as  to  exceed 
the  strength  of  your  attention,  let  them  rather  say  unto  you 
"Peace,  be  still."  Thus  may  you  enjoy  the  repose  of  a  spir- 
it that  is  staid  upon  God,  and  experience  that  in  quietness 
and  in  confidence  ye  shall  have  strength. 

It  is  my  earnest  prayer  that  He  who  in  Christ  Jesus  is  rec- 
onciled to  all  who  have  faith  in  His  blood,  may  stablish  and 
strengthen  you,  and  make  you  perfect.  I  ever  am,  my  dear 
Miss  Young,  yours  most  affectionately,    Thos.  Chalmers. 


REV.  DR.  SOMERVILLE. 


ai 


-P'-S- — I  am  reading  Buchanan's  work  with  great  MtUf«c- 
tion.     Our  elder  brother  was  made  perfect  through  sutrering. 

T.  C. 

No.  CCCLXXII  — To  Charles  Cowan,  Esq. 

Edinbi  RcJii,  I9th  DecemUr,  1831. 

My  dear  Sir — Mrs.  Chahners  unites  with  me  in  every 
feeUng  and  expression  of  sympathy  with  you  and  Mrt.  Cowan 
on  the  occasion  of  this  aillictive  bereavement.  I  am  glad  to 
observe  that  you  are  deriving  comfort  from  the  only  true 
source  ;  and  I  can  not  beHeve  tliat  the  Savior  who  winced 
such  attachment  to  children  upon  earth,  who  took  them  in 
His  arms  and  blessed  them,  who  rebuked  the  a|>o»lh*«  for  for- 
bidding their  approach  to  His  person,  who  declared  that  of 
such  is  the  kingdom  of  Heaven — 1  can  not  believe  th&t  the 
infant  flower,  which  so  soon  lies  withered  upon  its  italk,  ii 
not  transplanted  into  those  unfading  bowers  where  it  will 
flourish  in  all  the  bloom  and  vigor  of  immortality 

With  kindest  regards  and  condolences  to  Mrs.  Cowan,  and 
to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Menzies,  if  still  with  you,  I  am,  my  dear  air, 
yours  very  truly,  Thomas  Chai.mi.kh 

No.   CCCLXXIII.— To  THE  Rev.  Dr.  Somkrvii^*..  ..* 
Drummelzier. 

KiriiiUoB'..  22d.1ufiut,  I8J2 
My  dear  Sir — This  is  truly  a  sad  visilaiiun  lo  you  and 
poor  Mrs.  Somerville  as  parents  of  one  of  the  U-sl  of  •on*,  and 
to  myself  in  having  lost  a  pupil  of  whom  I  may  hoii«Uy  »*y. 
that  none  stood  higher  in  my  peraonal  regards. 

I  might  expatiate  on  his  great,  and  inlcrrstinic.  Mid  rope- 
rior  talents  as  a  scholar,  but  these  arc  unavailing  now.  Your 
strong  consolation  lies  m  what  we  all  know  of  his  faith  la 
the  Savior,  and  decided  piety  ;  and  1  do  hojx-  that  the.*' pre- 
cious recollections  will  sweeten  the  cup  of  discipline  holh  \o 
you  and  your  sorrowing  family. 

It  is  an  appalling  scourge  that  haa  come  upon  our  Uad. 


452  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

and  death,  I  am  told,  in  its  most  hideous  and  revolting  form, 
is  the  consequence.  =^  Never  than  in  such  a  peculiar  case  is 
the  comfort  of  the  follov^ing  passage  more  applicable,  and  I 
trust  your  faith  will  prevail  over  sense  and  memory  in  ap- 
propriating it :  "  Sown  in  corruption,  raised  in  incorruption  ; 
sown  in  weakness,  raised  in  power  ;  sown  in  dishonor,  raised 
in  glory."  May  you  both  rejoice  in  the  prospect  of  that  day 
when  that  fine  form  and  countenance,  in  which  you  witness- 
ed so  grievous  a  transformation,  will  again  be  restored  ;  when 
the  grave  will  deliver  up  its  dead ;  and  they  who,  once  near 
and  dear  to  us,  are  now  mouldering  there  shall  be  invested 
with  the  bloom  and  vigor  of  immortality. 

Your  son's  death  has  awakened  great  emotion  among  us 
all.  He  was  a  general  favorite  among  his  fellow-students  ; 
and  from  the  first  time  I  knew  him  I  loved  him.  The  grief 
he  has  left  behind  him  in  your  family  must  be  deep  and  ten- 
der. Nor  would  I  have  ventured  to  obtrude  on  the  sacred- 
ness  of  your  sorrow  but  for  the  sake  of  unbosoming  my  own. 
May  He  who  inflicted  the  wound,  and  alone  is  able  to  heal 
it,  pour  abundantly  into  your  hearts  of  the  balm  of  His  con- 
solation, and  bid  you  look  with  the  believer's  eye,  and  the  be- 
liever's hope  to  that  everlasting  home  where  sorrow  and  sep- 
aration are  unknown. 

With  kindest  and  most  sympathizing  regards  to  Mrs.  Som- 
erville,  and  to  the  other  members  of  your  deeply  afflicted  fam- 
ily, ever  believe  me,  my  dear  sir,  yours  most  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCCLXXIV— To  Dr.  Somerville. 

Edinburgh,  23d  Jpril,  1843. 
My  very  dear  Sir — I  have  been  much  affected  and  con- 
cerned by  the  melancholy  intimation  of  another  breach  in 
your  family.  To  use  the  language  of  Paul,  you  have  been 
"in  deaths  oft ;"  and  God  has  been  pleased  in  His  sovereign 
wisdom  to  exercise  you  in  your  old  age  by  sore  and  heavy  be- 
*  Dr.  Somerville's  son  was  cut  off  by  cholera. 


MISS  SOMERVILLE.  4^3 


reavemeiits.     May  you  have  ample  experience  of  luoeor  and 

support  from  Him  who  has  a  fcllow-recliiig  lor  all  our  ii.tirin- 
ities  and  sorrows  ;  and  in  the  peaceable  IVuiU  of  n^'hirout- 
ness  may  you  reahze  the  truth  of  the  precicu*  declaruiion. 
that  all  things  will  be  made  to  work  togethrr  Inr  r.-.-.l  i„ 
them  who  love  God. 

The  two  admirable  young  men  whom  you  liuvi-  i...st  w.-rt- 
both  my  students,  and  both  of  them  very  much  vahicd  and 
loved  by  me.  Were  it  not  for  the  hopes  and  comfort*  of  th« 
blessed  Gospel,  what  a  desolation  would  »uch  deaths  leave 
behind  them  I 

God  abundantly  bless  and  sustain  you,  my  dear  sir.  under 
the  truly  alliictive  dispensation.  Take  refupc  in  Christ  and 
in  His  righteousness,  which  opens  up  a  better  and  abiding 
world  to  all  who  believe  in  Him.  1  ever  am,  my  dear  sir. 
yours  with  sincerest  regard,  and  every  feeling  of  coiu|olcnc« 
for  yourself  and  your  daughters,  Thomas  CiiAi.MiiUit. 

No.  CCCLXXV.— To  Miss  Somervillk. 

MoBMKGKiDB,  ]2lA  Maf,  IRA4 
My  dear  Miss  SoMEin  illk — I  heanl  the  melancholy  in- 
telligence of  your  venerable  father's  <leath  with  great  emo- 
tion— having  long  had  the  highest  respect  for  his  chararlrr, 
and  for  his  great  services  on  the  field  of  argument  to  the 
cause  of  Christianity.  iSo  long  back  as  I'' 17.  1  was  intro- 
duced to  Lord  Grenville,  who  spoke  to  me  of  Hume's  infidel- 
ity, and  of  the  desire  he  felt  for  an  effective  refutation  of  hia 
sophistry  on  Uie  subject  of  miracles.  I  told  him  of  your  fa- 
ther's work  as  the  best  then  extant  upon  that  subject ;  and 
I  afterward  saw  a  high;wntteii  lei«tiinony  from  him  in  ita 
favor,  he  having  perused  it  with  a  high  estimation  of  Ms  val- 
ue and  power.  But  I  am  sure  that  it  is  not  no  much  the 
recollection  of  his  talents  or  scholarship,  but  of  his  prrat  faith 
and  the  love  which  he  bore  to  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jreos  ;  it 
is  this  last  which  can  minister  the  only  effectual  ooMolalioa 
in  this  season  of  your  bereavement,  and  cause  you  to 


454  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS.  ' 

even  in  the  midst  of  a  sore  tribulation.  There  is  a  sanction 
and  a  sacredness  given  to  the  sorrow  of  nature  by  the  exam- 
ple of  our  Savior,  but  you  have  great  reason  to  sorrow  not 
even  as  others  who  have  no  hope  ;  and  let  the  deaths  of  the 
wise  and  the  good  that  are  so  fast  thickening  around  us,  let 
them  incite  us  all  the  more  to  be  followers  of  them  who, 
through  faith  and  patience,  are  now  inheriting  the  promises. 

You  have  had  many  and  severe  family  trials.  The  first 
of  your  brothers,  who  was  my  student,  and  cut  off  while  at 
college,  was  my  most  favorite  pupil,  and  I  had  the  greatest 
liking  for  him  ;  and  he,  after  the  interval  of  some  years,  was 
followed  by  another  who  promised  to  be  of  great  service  in 
the  Church.  When  to  these  I  add  dear  Mrs.  Somerville, 
you  may  truly  be  said  to  have  been  "  in  deaths  oft."  Heaven 
grant  that  they  may  teach  us  true  wisdom,  that  they  may 
lead  us  solemnly  and  practically  to  consider  our  latter  end, 
and  that  we  all  withdraw  our  affections  from  a  world  that 
passeth  away  to  that  enduring  world  where  there  is  joy  at 
God's  right  hand  and  pleasures  for  evermore. 

Give  my  best  regards  to  your  sister  and  brothers.  May 
this  visitation  be  sanctified  to  the  mourning  survivors  ;  and 
with  sincere  and  affectionate  condolence  for  you  all,  I  entreat 
you  to  believe  me,  my  dear  madam,  yours  most  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCCLXXVL— To  Mrs.  Charles  Nairne. 

MoRNiNGSiDE,  29th  January^  1837. 
My  dear  Mrs.  Nairne — The  same  infirm  4iealth  which 
prevented  me  from  joining  in  the  last  melancholy  offices  to 
your  departed  husband  has  forced  me  out  to  the  country, 
where  I  am  now  spending  a  Sabbath  of  complete  retirement 
and  repose.  I  feel  that  I  can  not  better  spend  one  hallowed 
hour  of  it,  than  by  weeping  with  those  who  weep,  and  telling 
you  in  particular  how  deeply  I  sympathize  with  you  under 
that  awful  and  affecting  visitation,  by  which  the  nearest  and 
dearest  of  all  earthly  relationships  is  broken.     This  is  truly 


DR.  BEGBIE. 


a  sad  and  sudden  bereavement,  and  fitted  of  all  othew  to 

overwhelm  the  sinking  spirit,  were  it  not  thai  we  arc  in  the 
hands  of  a  God  who  is  as  mercirul  as  He  is  inyHtenous  ;  and 
of  whom  we  may  feel  assured  that,  thouph  clouds  and  dark- 
ness are  round  about  Him,  there  is  wisdom  in  all  Hi»  wayi, 
and  tenderness  in  all  His  visitations. 

May  this,  my  dear  madam,  be  your  own  ample  cxpcnpneo 
on  this  most  trying^  of  all  occasions.  May  your  refuge  and 
resting-place  be  in  God  ;  may  yt)u  be  led  to  confide  in  Him 
as  your  reconciled  Father  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Ixjrd.  who. 
touched  with  the^  fellow-feeling  of  your  infirmitiei  and  your 
sorrows,  knows  how  to  succor  the  afflicted,  and  is  truly  aa 
willing  as  He  is  able  to  help  you.  May  He  open  a  way  to 
your  now  desolated  heart  ;  and,  making  it  alive  to  the  charm 
and  the  efficacy  of  His  own  peace-speaking  bloo<l,  may  He 
carry  forward  your  hopes  and  your  affections  to  that  cndunng 
world  where  sin,  ayd  sorrow,  and  separation  are  unknown. 

May  I  beg  that  you  will  offer  my  kind  and  condoiinjr  re- 
gards to  Mrs.  Marshall  ;  and  I  entreat  you  to  believe  ro«, 
my  dear  madam,  yours  with  deepest  feelings  of  aympathy 
and  regard,  Thomas  Chalmee». 

P.S. — I  can  not  close  this  letter  without  the  exprraaion 
of  a  fervent  and  heartfelt  benediction  on  your  dear  boy.  Majr 
he  arise  to  manhood  and  call  you  blessed  ;  may  hit  profreaa 
through  the  world  be  unstained  by  the  infection  of  thta 
world's  spirit  ;  may  he  be  spared  to  bear  you  up  under  the 
weight  of  declining  years — at  once  duteoui  to  hii  aunriTiof 
parent,  and  duteous  to  his  God.  T   C. 

No.  CCCLXXVII.— To  1)R   Beob«. 

9tk  Dtctmbrr,  iSJf 

My  dear  Sir— We  all  here  deeply  sympathirr  with  Um 
severe  family  affliction  under  which  you  labor  And  our  f*«l- 
ing  is  not  the  less  sincere  that  we  can  not  sp<-»k  rxpenmnil. 
ally  to  the  depth  or  the  pungency  cf  that  ^ef  uh.rh  ..  awak 


456  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

ened  by  the  loss  of  children.  I  can  well  conceive  it  to  be 
one  of  the  sorest  agonies  wherewith  our  Father  in  heaven  is 
pleased  to  try  and  to  exercise  the  hearts  of  His  people  here 
below  ;  and  it  is  my  earnest  prayer  that,  bitter  and  well-nigh 
overwhelming  as  the  visitation  is  under  which  you  and  Mrs. 
Begbie  now  labor,  it  may  be  sanctified  to  you  both,  and  yield 
in  abundance  the  peaceable  fruits  of  righteousness. 

It  is  quite  wonderful  that,  hving  as  we  do  in  the  midst 
of  a  most  precarious  world,  and  experiencing  almost  every 
day  some  new  instance  of  the  unsparing  and  universal  law 
of  mortality,  there  should  still  adhere  to  our  nature  such  a 
cleaving  and  constant  tendency  to  forget  eternal  things,  and 
live  here  as  if  here  we  were  to  live  forever.  May  the  Giver 
of  all  grace  superadd  the  demonstrations  of  His  Spirit  to  the 
warnings  of  His  providence,  and  effectually  teach  one  and  all 
of  us  to  consider  our  latter  end. 

I  grieve  to  hear  of  your  own  confinement ;  and  with  my 
fervent  wishes  and  supplications  for  the  comfort  and  well- 
being  of  you  all,  particularly  of  the  bereaved  and  suffering 
mother,  I  entreat  you  to  believe  me,  my  dear  sir,  yours  very 
truly,  "  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCCLXXVIII.— To  Mrs.  M'Clelland. 

Burntisland,  lAth  June,  1840. 

My  dear  Helen — You  may  well  believe  that  I  have  been 
in  a  sad  state  of  helplessness,  both  from  external  causes  and 
from  my  own  personal  state  of  utter  languor  and  disability, 
else  I  should  have  been  at  Kelton  last  week,  and,  failing  this, 
should  have  written  you  before  now  on  the  subject  of  your 
sore  and  melancholy  bereavement. 

The  sad  intelligence  was  received  by  us  all  with  great 
emotion.  For  myself,  I  always  had  a  strong  liking  and  re- 
spect for  Mr.  M'Clelland,  and  that  founded  on  his  own  per- 
sonal qualities — a  kind,  friendly,  generous  heart,  and  withal 
an  exceedingly  sound  and  well-informed  understanding,  with 
an  amount  of  erudition  not  very  common  among  the  minis- 


MRS.  BRYCE.  457 


ters  of  our  Church.  I  really  do  not  wonder  at  the  regreU  of 
his  neighborhood,  and  the  well-merited  leslimony  which  1 
read  the  other  day  iVoia  one  of  our  public  journaU  n-fjarding 
him  ;  but  all  this  enhances  the  mapnitudo  of  your  low.  and 
of  our  sympathies  with  all  the  grief  and  dcsoiatene*-  -  •  •— ' 
ing  which  you  must  suffer  because  of  it. 

It  were  well  if  these  frequent  and  most  afleotinp  instances 
of  the  mutability  of  all  that  is  below,  would  at  h-nglh  »fud 
our  thoughts  in  the  habitual  direction  of  upward  and  heaven- 
ward, if  we  at  length  learned  the  wisdom  of  considering  our 
latter  end,  and  laying  hold  on  Him  who  came  to  destroy 
death  ;  if  we  learned  to  cast  all  our  confidence  on  Hm  rtcri- 
fice,  and  give  ourselves  wholly  up  to  His  keeping  and  Hii 
guidance  during  the  remainder  of  our  days.  Mrs  Chalmcri 
and  I  are  both  most  anxious  to  know  what  your  wishes  and 
purposes  are  in  regard  to  the  future.  And  de|>cnd  upon  my 
help  and  co-operation,  if  spared,  in  all  that  can  be  of  use  to 
you.  I  know  you  will  not  ask  me  to  undertake  the  journey 
to  Kelton,  unless  some  material  service  requires  it;  but  if  it 
should,  I  beg  you  will  feel  no  delicacy  in  letting  m«  know  ; 
for  I  shall  feel  it  both  rny  duty  and  inclination  to  forward 
your  views.  You  of  course  will  spend  some  time  with  us 
prior  to  any  permanent  arrangement  that  may.  after  proper 
counsel  and  deliberation,  be  fixed  u\xm\  aa  the  l^st  I  am, 
my  dear  Helen,  ever  yours  most  afi'ectionately. 

TnoMA.'i  L  iiAi.Mi.ji!' 

No.  CCCLXXIX.— To  Mrs.  Bryce.  Auerdoub. 

BtRNTiSLA?«t).  23d  StptemUr,  1841 

My  dear  Mrs.  Bryce— I  hesitate  to  intrude  on  the  Mcred- 
ness  of  your  deep  sorrow,  yet  can  not  refrain  from  the  expne*- 
sion  of  my  sympathy  both  with  yourself  and  all  the  memhcn 
of  vonr  bereaved  family  on  this  day  of  solemn  visiiafion 

May  He  who  is  at  once  the  Husband  of  the  widow  and  th« 
Father  of  the  fatherless,  he  the  refuge  and  .»re  porl.on  rf 
you  all.  He  alHict.  not  willmgly  aiiy  of  Ui*  ciuidxcu  .  m4 
V.  ^^ 


458  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

it  is  my  earnest  prayer  that  this  mysterious  and  unlooked-for 
visitation  may  yield  to  you  and  yours  the  peaceable  fruits  of 
righteousness. 

That  meek  and  gentle  Savior  who  wept  at  the  tomb  of 
Lazarus,  gave  thereby  a  sanction  and  sacredness  to  the  sorrow 
of  nature.  May  He  further  sanctify  this  emotion  by  the  Spir- 
it of  all  grace,  and  withdraw  our  affections  from  a  world,  the 
nearest  and  dearest  objects  of  which  can  be  so  speedily  with- 
drawn from  us.  It  is  well  that  we  have  His  righteousness 
to  plead  for  our  entrance  into  that  better  world,  where  sin, 
and  sorrow,  and  separation  are  unknown.  May  you,  my  dear 
madam,  and  all  of  your  household,  obtain  that  precious  faith 
which  gives  a  part  and  an  interest  in  all  the  blessings  of  His 
mediatorship,  and  unites  you  forever  with  that  spiritual  family 
of  which  He  is  the  Head,  who  alone  hath  the  gift,  and  who 
alone  hath  the  words  of  life  everlasting. 

"With  best  regards  for  one  and  all  of  your  afflicted  circle, 
in  which  Mrs.  Chalmers  most  sincerely  joins,  and  begging  you 
will  accept  of  our  united  condolence  on  this  touching  occasion, 
I  ever  am,  my  very  dear  madam,  yours  with  great  esteem, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCCLXXX.— To  Miss  Burns. 

Edinburgh,  8th  January,  1843. 
My  dear  Miss  Burns — We  are  much  interested  by  your 
letter  respecting  Miss  Edie.  At  present  I  write  you  rather 
than  her,  that  she  might  be  saved  the  trouble  and  fatigue  of 
reading  more  than  she  is  quite  able  for.  You  will  judge  how 
far  the  reading  of  this  and  such  like  passages  as  I  shall  rec- 
ommend might  be  prosecuted,  so  as  not  to  draw  too  much 
upon  her  attention.  She  is  in  the  hands  of  one  who  knows 
her  frame;  and  I  should  like  that  her  own  gentle  spirit  re- 
posed upon  Him  as  all  her  desire  and  salvation.  May  He  who 
has  so  invested  her  with  the  ornament  of  a  meek  and  quiet 
spirit,  perfect  the  work  which  He  has  begun,  and  ripen  her 
more  and  more  for  the  full  enjoyment  of  that  heaven  whero 
iioliness  and  charity  shall  ever  reign* 


MRS.  ELUOT. 


The  twenty-third  Paahn  I  should  tlimk  well  saitcd  for  her. 

The  green  pastures,  the  still  waters,  the  ^ro,„ln,..M,  and  the 
mercy,  are  all  imap^es  of  bliss  and  goodness  titled  to  sober  m.d 
give  refreshment  to  her  soul. 

The  last  half  of  the  book  of  Lsaiah  is  rojilete  with  encour- 
agement ;  and  the. forty-fifth  chapter,  particularly  in  lU  dot- 
ing verses,  is  inestimably  precious.  And  in  the  Mh  veree 
there  is  an  immense  comfort  in  the  expression  of  '•  the  heav- 
ens pouring  down  righteousness."  How  delightful  to  think 
of  righteousness  as  a  ready-made  investituro  given  to  them 
who  believe,  and  so  to  be  exempted  from  all  the  jeare  of  le- 
gality,  and  all  its  fruitless  and  latigumg  labors.  It  is  only  of 
such  righteousness  that  the  prophet  speaks  in  iMtiah,  xxxii., 
17.  May  the  patient  suH'erer  take  up  with  this  rijihteooa- 
ness,  so  as  to  work  peace  in  her  heart,  and  with  the  blrwed 
efTect  of  quietness  and  assurance  forever.  The  next  versr.  loo 
(verse  16),  is  very  soothing.  The  fifty-third  chapter,  one  of 
the  most  illustrious  in  Scripture,  is  well  fitted  to  call  out  in 
our  hearts  the  love  of  the  Savior. 

The  whole  of  our  Savior's  conversation  with  Hw  disciptc*. 
John,  xiv.-xvii.,  particularly  xiv.,  1-3,  she  will  find  to  br  an 
elixir  to  her  soul.  But  she  must  not  be  overtafked  Dopvo 
her  my  tenderest  regards.  My  heart  blee«i8  lor  jH><>r  Mri. 
Edie.  Say  all  that  is  allectionate  and  kind  both  to  her  and 
to  your  much-loved  patient,  both  from  inj-»elf  and  fn»ni  all  our 
family.     And  with  our  united  regards  to  you.  I  ever  am.  Ate  , 

TlIOMAH    ClULltKB^. 

No.  CCCLXXXI  — To  Me9.  Elliot 

Kl.i>BiR«M.  Wth  Fftnurrjr.  1«44 
My  dear  Mrs.  Elmot — The  intimation  of  dear  Mr»  fil- 
er's death  has  awakened  in  my  breast  no  common  »t«i»«bili- 
ties  ;  my  acquaintance  with  her — on  my  ptrt  a  constanf  aW 
cherished  friendshi))— being  now  of  f.-rty-threcyMrs'siaiMJiBf. 
In  180  I .  I  was  a  fieqiu-^t  vi.Kitant  at  Coiirlhill.  and  errr  frrat- 
cd  with  the  utmost  kmdiiew  by  both  of  your  mttdi-fc>v#d  pw^ 


460  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

ents,  whose  attentions  to  me  at  my  first  outset  in  public  life 
have  never  been  effaced  from  my  memory,  and,  I  will  add, 
have  never  been  effaced  from  my  heart.  The  maternal  care 
which  I  experienced  at  her  hand  I  always  felt  to  be  pecul- 
iarly soothing;  and  from  the  days  of  Dr.  Charters  downward 
(but  my  intimacy  with  her  began  more  than  twenty  years  be- 
fore his  death)  I  have  never  ceased,  amid  all  the  varieties 
through  which  Providence  has  conducted  me,  to  cast  an  eye 
of  pleasing  remembrance  on  the  place  that  gave  you  birth,  or 
to  think  of  your  dear  departed  mother  with  every  feeling  of 
the  most  grateful  and  affectionate  regard. 

But  far  the  most  interesting  visit  I  ever  paid  to  her  was 
in  1833,  when  she  told  me  that  she  had  reached  seventy  ;  nor 
can  I  adequately  express  the  joy  which  I  felt  on  finding  that 
the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus  was  so  congenial  to  her  heart.  She 
had  quite  the  tone  and  aspect  of  one  who  was  ripening  for 
heaven,  and  I  trust  has  now  entered  upon  its  glories.  Let 
us,  my  dear  Mrs.  Elliot,  be  followers  of  them  who  through 
faith  and  patience  are  now  inheriting  the  promises;  and  then 
shall  the  friends  who  loved  each  other  on  earth,  and  loved 
the  Savior,  hold  everlasting  converse  together  in  that  region 
of  blessedness  where  sin,  and  sorrow,  and  separation  are  un- 
known. 

Christ  casts  out  none  who  come  unto  Him.  His  blood 
cleanseth  from  all  sin.  God  through  Him  beseeches  us  to  be 
reconciled.  He  says,  "  Turn  ye,  turn  ye  ;  why  will  ye  die?" 
He  promises  that  if  we  turn  unto  Him,  He  will  pour  out  His 
Spirit  upon  us.  These  are  precious  sayings ;  and  both  you 
and  I  are  abundantly  welcome  to  the  full  benefit  of  their  ac- 
complishment in  ourselves.  Let  us  believe  in  them  to  the 
saving  of  our  souls.  Let  us  venture  our  all  on  that  founda- 
tion which  God  himself  hath  laid  in  Zion.  Let  us  give  our- 
selves up  unto  Christ  to  be  ruled  in  by  His  Spirit — to  be  ruled 
over  by  His  law.  Give  my  best  regards  to  Mr.  Elliot  and 
your  brother  ;  and  ever  believe  me,  my  dear  Mrs.  Elliot,  yours 
with  sincerest  condolence  and  regard,     Thos.  Chalmers. 


MRS.  ANDERSON. 


m 


No.  CCCLXXXIT  — To  Mrs.  Anderson. 

Edi.nburgh,  5th  May.  1844. 

My  very  dear  Mrs.  Anderson— This  is  a  truly  dr«>Ut- 
ing  stroke.  God  has  been  pleased  thus  to  cut  off*  the  df»ir» 
of  your  eyes  (Ezek.,xxiv.,  IG).  in  mercy,  however.  I  trust  and 
believe,  and  not  in  judjrment.  You  haw  preat  rca»ou,  mv 
dear  madam,  to  rejoice  even  in  the  tnid.M  of  thiu  nore  tribula- 
tion, though  one  of  the  sorest  on  this  side  of  death,  it  bt'ing 
the  breach  of  the  nearest  and  dearest  of  all  earthly  relation- 
ships. 

All  here  have  been  saddened  and  solemnizi-d  by  it.  Wo 
feel  that  we  have  lost  a  much- valued  Iru'iid  Ever)-  recol- 
lection I  have  of  the  dear  deceased  euhanrrs  my  »cn*o  of  his 
worth  and  goodness,  and  the  greatness  of  your  low  Never 
in  the  whole  circle  of  my  acquaintanceship  did  I  expenrnc* 
a  more  uniform  flow  of  all  that  was  kiiul  and  gentlemanly 
But  the  greatest  charm  of  his  society  then,  and  incompar- 
ably the  most  consoling  now  to  look  back  u\xm.  if  the  fvtjent 
value  he  had  for  the  truth  as  it  is  in  Jcsup,  the  ardent  love 
he  bore  to  the  Savior. 

This  is  a  mighty  alleviation  ;  and  to  Ih*  force  of  it  I  am 
confident  you  must  feel  alive.  Blessed  be  (I<id  that  whil^. 
with  the  example  of  His  Son,  who  wept  at  Lnzaru*'  fonib. 
He  has  given  an  impressive  sanction  to  the  iorrow  of  nature. 
you  have  such  abundant  reason  to  sorrow  not  oven  ••  other* 
which  have  no  hope.  Let  us  but  withdraw  our  aireetioni 
from  a  world  the  nearest  and  dearest  objects  of  which  can  be 
so  speedily  withdrawn  from  us.  an«l  transfer  thev?  affeciioos 
to  the  world  which  enduireth,  where  •orrow.  and  •eparatjoa. 
and  sin,  are  unknown. 

It  is  my  earnest  prayer  that  the  heavy  berearemenf  may 
be  blessed  and  sanctified  to  you  all.  Give  my  be«t  »n4  kiid 
est  regards  to  the  dear  Miss  Andersons  and  the  rett  of  )«jr 
sorrowing  family.  Oh  that  we  at  length  learned  w.^om- 
that  the  oft-repeated  lesson  of  our  mortality  at  length  told 


462  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

upon  us,  so  that  instead  of  living  here,  as  if  here  we  were  to 
live  forever,  we  became  followers  of  them  who  through  faith 
and  patience  are  now  inheriting  the  promises. 

And  what  a  comfort  to  think  of  the  errand  on  which  our 
Savior  came  into  the  world,  even  to  destroy  death  and  him 
that  has  the  power  of  death.  Let  us  comfort  one  another 
with  these  words — assured  that  all  who  slept  in  Jesus,  all 
who  loved  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity,  will  meet  again 
and  be  forever  with  the  Lord.  In  the  contest  between  faith 
and  sense,  let  faith  have  the  victory.  Take  a  firm  confiding 
hold  on  the  promises  of  the  Gospel.  Be  persuaded  of  them 
and  embrace  them,  and  let  them  be  your  songs  in  the  house 
of  your  pilgrimage.  Cast  your  care  and  confidence  on  Him 
who  is  the  husband  of  the  widow  and  the  father  of  the  fa- 
therless. And  amid  the  changes  of  this  eventful  and  ever- 
shifting  world,  let  us  steady  our  hearts  upon  the  blessed  as- 
surance of  that  record  which  God  hath  given  of  His  Son,  even 
that  God  hath  given  to  us  eternal  life,  and  that  this  life  is  in 
His  Son. 

The  Bible-mark  which  you  gave  me  I  still  use,  and  it  is 
daily  in  my  hand.  The  precious  text  that  you  wrought  into 
it  I  often  recall  with  the  greatest  interest,  and  I  would  pre- 
sent it  now  to  your  notice  along  with  some  others.  Num.,  vi., 
24,  25,  26  ;  2  Tim.,  i.,  10  ;  1  Thess.,  iv.,  13-18  ;  2  Cor.,  iv., 
14,  17,  18  ;  Psalm  xc,  12  ;  John,  xi.,  25,  26  ;  1  Cor.,  xv., 
53,  58  ;  Phil,  i.,  23  ;  Rev.,  xiv.,  13  ;  xxii.,  1,  5,  17. 

Mr?.  Chalmers  and  my  daughters  join  in  most  affectionate 
condolence  with  yourself  and  the  Misses  Anderson  ;  and  with 
most  affectionate  and  earnest  prayers  for  Heaven's  blessings 
on  you  and  yours,  I  entreat  you  to  believe  me,  my  very  dear 
madam,  yours  with  the  greatest  esteem,  and  sympathy,  and 
regard,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCCLXXXIIL— To  Miss  Abercrombie. 

MoRNiNGSiDE,  17 tk  November,  1844. 
My  dear  Miss  Barbara — This  striking  and  unlooked  for 


MISS  ABERCROMBTE  ^^ 


death  never  ceases  to  occupy  my  feelings  and  thouahu  It 
IS  not  that  Dr.  Abercrombie  filled  so  lar^e  a  «,,ace  .n  iho.vo, 
of  h,s  countrymen  but  it  is  that,  apart  alto^^elher  from  hi. 
public  and  general  celebrity,  ther.  was  so  much  ofpcunno 
goodness  and  real  Christian  worth;  and  then  what  a  miirhly 
influence  on  the  side  of  truth  and  righteousness  that  he  held 
out  through  hie,  and  a  noble  and  consistent  te«Umony  and 
in  all  his  publications  gave  such  evidence  of  an  intense  affec- 
tion for  human  souls.  But  over  an.l  alK,vc  his  claims  t«  my 
reverence  and  regard  as  a  roligiou.s  philanthropist,  there  wa. 
such  a  uniform  kindness  to  myself,  and  his  ofhces  of  suUlan- 
tial  friendship  to  my  family  have  been  so  important  and  nu- 
merous,  that  beyond  the  circle  of  my  own  immediate  rela- 
tionship  there  is  no  removal  from  the  world  of  any  <.iher  ac- 
quaintance 1  have  in  life  that  could  more  aflect.  or  soleinnizc. 
or  warn  me.  It  is  well  to  speak  and  think  of  it  as  but  a  re* 
moval — not  a  dissolution  or  final  breaking  up.  May  you  and 
all  the  family  be  enabled  to  realize  tins  bright  and  cheering 
conviction,  and  look  forward  to  that  joyful  morning  of  a  biew- 
ed  and  glorious  resurrection,  when  you  shall  meet  again  ia 
that  inheritance  above  which  fadeth  not  away. 

In  John,  XV.,  2,  there  is  the  intimation  of  a  process  in  the 
spiritual  husbandry  of  God,  which  I  have  often  Kx)ked  upon 
as  especially  applicable  to  a  case  of  bereavement,  when  the 
nearest  and  dearest  of  all  earthly  relationships  is  broken  ; 
when  a  branch  beareth  fruit.  God  pnmeth  it  that  it  may  bring 
forth  more  fruit.  The  vegetable  juices  arc  made  to  take  & 
more  healthful  direction  when  all  the  luxuriant  overgrowth 
is  taken  away.  And  it  is  so  in  the  moral  and  npiritual  econ- 
omy. Our  affections  arc  apt  to  run  sideward  and  down- 
ward to  an  earthly  object,  and  this  tendency  God  in  Ui»  wi»« 
and  righteous  discipline  is  often  pleased  to  arrett  or  to  •hift, 
by  dissevering  the  object,  and  9o  causing  the  stream  or  cur- 
rent of  our  afl'ections  to  arise  from  the  things  that  are  be- 
neath to  those  which  are  above.  How  delightful  to  brlierv 
that  this   change  in  the  bent  of  your  affccUoni  may  take 


464  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

effect  upon  you  all,  and  this  without  losing  sight  of  their 
wonted  object,  but  by  following  it  upward  to  the  place  which 
he  now  occupies,  thus  causing  you  to  feel  as  it  were  another 
tie  to  Heaven,  an  augmented  interest  in  that  eternal  home 
which  should  henceforth  be  the  grand  object  of  all  our  aims 
and  all  our  aspirations. 

Give  my  most  affectionate  regards  to  your  sisters,  who  one 
and  all  of  them  are  the  objects  of  my  sympathies  and  pray- 
ers. I  might  have  addressed  this  broken  and  imperfect  eflu- 
sion  to  Miss  Abercrombie  ;  but  on  her,  as  the  eldest  of  the 
family,  the  main  burden  will  fall  of  this  sad  and  trying  dis- 
pensation. Forgive  me,  my  dear  Miss  Barbara,  for  having 
singled  out  you  as  my  correspondent  for  the  expression  of 
feelings  which  I  can  not  restrain,  yet  am  unable  to  utter  but 
in  a  way  the  most  inadequate  and  feeble.  Ever  yours,  most 
affectionately  and  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 


[MiDMiLLS,  near  Inverness,  9th  January,  1850. — Rev.  Sir — I  can 
not  deny  myself  the  satisfaction  of  saying  how  much  I  felt  gratified  at 
finding,  in  the  first  volume  of  Dr.  Chalmers's  Memoirs,  my  husbands 
name  so  remembered  in  connection  with  a  family  he  so  greatly  es- 
teemed.* 

I  have  often  heard  him,  in  after  years,  refer  to  the  warm  kindness 
of  Captain  George  Chalmers,  who  even  tried  to  find  amusement 
for  him  when  returning  strength  fitted  him  for  a  little  exertion.  A 
bottle  would  be  slung  at  the  yard-arm  to  serve  for  a  mark  at  which 
the  invalid  subaltern  might  fire  ;  and  having  been  fortunate  enough  to 
hit  the  object  several  times,  Captain  Chalmers  accounted  him  so  ex- 
pert a  marksman  that  he  declared,  should  they  encounter  a  hostile  ship, 
he  would  station  him  "  to  pick  off  the  man  at  the  helm."  I  am,  rev- 
erend sir,  your  obedient  servant,  Margaret  Mackay. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Hanna,  Morningside.] 

No.  CCCLXXXIY.— To  Mrs.  Mackay. 

Edinburgh,  16th  March,  1845. 
My  dear  Mrs.  Mackay — I  received  the  affecting  intima- 
tion from  Hedgefield  a  few  days  ago,  and  not,  I  can  assure 
*  See  Memoirs,  vol.  i.,  p.  99. 


MRS.  MACKAY. 


you,  without  emotion.  Your  dear  and  departed  husband  1 
became  acquainted  with  so  far  back  as  l^OG,  wlu-n  he  B|MMit 
some  time  with  me  and  my  brotlier  George  at  the  man»e  ui 
Kilmany,  when  my  brother  was  languishing  under  an  lUnoM 
which  carried  him  soon  to  his  grave.  At  the  commencenjcnt 
of  our  acquaintance  neither  of  us  was  adequately  iinprew.f<l 
by  the  momentous  realities  of  an  eternal  world  ;  but  I  re- 
joice to  think  of  him  in  a  more  advanced  life,  and  of  ail  (he 
converse  that  he  had  with  yourself,  and  of  the  love  he  lx)re 
to  one  whose  works  declare  that  she  loved  the  Lord  Jesus.  I 
have  finished,  and  on  the  last  tSabbath  of  last  year*,  the  pe- 
rusal of  your  affectionate  testimony  and  tribute  to  the  cause 
of  the  Savior.  May  the  precious  truths  which  you  there  deal 
out  to  others  soothe  and  sustain  your  own  spirit  under  this 
heavy  visitation  of  Providence,  and  by  which  the  nearest 
and  dearest  of  all  your  earthly  relationships  has  been  broken 

*  Edinburgh,  29th  December,  1843. — Mv  pear  Madam — I  offer 
you  my  grateful  acknowledgments  for  your  "  Sabbath  Musings,"  of 
which  I  mean  to  read  one  for  every  Sabbath  of  the  cominfj  year. 

I  am  very  sorry  to  hear  of  poor  Colonel  Mackav  .**  severe  illnevs. 

With  every  prayer  for  the  best  interests  bt)th  of  him  and  of  your- 
self, ever  believe  me,  my  dear  madam,  yours  very  truly, 

Tno.MAS    CllALMEKS. 

In  a  letter  to  Colonel  Mackay,  dated  1 1th  December,  1837,  Dr.  Chal- 
mers referred  to  a  previous  publication  of  Mrs.  Mackay  in  the  follow- 
ing terms  : 

I  read  the  '"  Family  at  Heatherdale"  with  great  pleasure,  as  did  also 
my  daughters.  I  think  it  a  beautiful  tale,  and  written  in  a  pure  and 
scriptural  style  of  sentiment.  Its  simplicity  is  a  great  <hnrm  lo  ma, 
thouffh  I  would  have  yoti  to  be  apprised  that  this  very  property.  thoa|fh 
in  my  estimation  a  very  high  one,  may  operate  a»lversely  on  the  sal« 
of  the  work,  or  on  the  amount  of  pubUc  demand  for  it.  Such  is  the 
depraved  taste  nowadays  for  excitement,  that  nothing  but  a  story  of 
great  incident  and  bustle  will  satiate  the  appetite.  The  work,  howrrfr, 
must  have  its  select  readers  and  admirers  notwithstanding ;  and.  at  all 
events,  you  have  obviously  creat  rea^^on  to  felicitate  your»flf  a<  brin(( 
associated  with  one  of  such  an  accomplished,  but.  a»Hne  all.  of  »u«'h 
a  Christian  mind  as  that  manifested  by  its  author.  With  my  l»r»i  rc- 
frards  to  Mrs.  Mackay,  I  ever  am,  ray  dear  sir,  your^  m.«i  truly. 

Thomas  CaALMsaa. 

U  2 


466  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

asunder.  May  He  who  is  the  Husband  of  the  widow  be  your 
support  and  consolation  in  this  your  day  of  trial,  and  fill  your 
sinking  heart  with  the  bright  and  elevating  thoughts  of  that 
enduring  world  where  sorrow,  and  suffering,  and  separation 
are  unknown. 

What  a  blessed  consideration  that  we  have  a  Friend  on 
high  who  is  touched  with  a  fellow-feeling  of  our  sorrows. 
May  you  be  filled  with  a  realizing  sense  both  of  His  power 
and  His  willingness  to  save  you.  May  you  enjoy  the  mani- 
festations of  His  love,  so  as  that  you  may  learn  to  glory  not 
only  in  the  hope  of  that  inheritance  which  He  hath  purchased 
for  all  who  believe,  but  even  to  glory  in  tribulations  also. 
(Rom.,  v.,  23.)  Through  patience  and  comfort  of  the  precious 
Scriptures  may  you  have  hope,  nay,  abound  therein,  through 
the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  (Rom.,  xv.,  13.)  The  last 
of  these  two  verses  is  truly  precious ;  and  may  you  have  full 
experience  of  the  blessings  there  prayed  for  by  the  Apostle — 
peace  and  joy  in  believing,  even  on  Him  whose  blood  cleans- 
eth  from  all  sin  ;  and  why  not  from  your  sin  ?  Ever  believe 
me,  my  very  dear  madam,  yours  with  great  esteem  and  re- 
gardj  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCCLXXXV. — To  James  Cunningham,  Esq.,  Edin- 
burgh. 

Anstruther,  18th  May,  1845. 

My  dear  Sir — I  should  have  replied  much  sooner  to  your 
melancholy  and  affecting  intimation  of  the  2d  of  May.  I  have 
been  advertised  lately  of  many  deaths,  and  some  of  them  my 
own  relatives.  But  this,  though  it  has  occupied  my  time, 
has  not  diverted  my  sympathies  from  you  in  the  bereave- 
ment which  you  have  been  called  upon  to  sustain  by  the 
tearing  asunder  of  the  nearest  and  dearest  of  all  earthly  re- 
lationships. 

Yet  I  rejoice  to  think  of  your  many  alleviations.  Our  Sav- 
ior Himself  has  given  the  sacred  sanction  of  His  own  exam- 
ple to  the  sorrow  of  nature.      But  what  a  call  for  gratitude 


FREDERICK  ADAMSOX,  ESQ.  407 


that  you  sorrow  not  even  as  others  that  have  no  hi)j>c.  What 
a  precious  consolation  is  the  remembrance  of  that  laiih  and 
its  ihuts,  which  give  you  the  blessed  assuranci',  that  vih.u 
she  fell  asleep  she  slept  in  Jesus.  And  what  a  preservaiivo 
against  being  swallowed  up  of  overmuch  sorrow — when  onr 
afl'ections,  instead  of  being  desolated,  are  only  transferred 
from  that  passing  and  present  world,  the  nearest  and  dearest 
objects  of  which  are  taken  away  from  us,  to  tiiat  bright  and 
enduring  world  where  sin,  and  sorrow,  and  separation  are 
unknown.  Let  us,  therefore,  comfort  one  another  with  these 
words.  As  friends  drop  away  IVom  us,  let  us  draw  nearer 
together  as  the  followers  in  one  common  pursuit  of  those  who 
through  faith  and  patience  are  now  inheriting  the  promises. 
It  is  my  earnest  prayer  that  this  heavy  alfliction  may  be 
sanctified  and  made  the  vehicle  of  the  richest  spiritual  bless- 
ings to  you  and  to  your  children.  They  are  deprived  of  a 
mother's  presence,  hut  not,  let  us  confidently  hope,  of  the  fruit 
and  efficacy  of  a  mother's  prayers,  lilted  up  by  her  while  on 
earth,  and  the  reward  of  which  is  upon  high.  Ever  believe 
me,  my  dear  sir,  yours  very  respectfully  and  truly, 

ThO>US  ClLA.LMEaS. 

No.  CCCLXXXVI— To  Frederick  Ada.mson,  Esq. 

GoVROCK  Hoi:.sE,  25/A  JuJ\/,  1845. 
My  dear  Sir — I  am  not  sure  if  I  could  state  so  well  in 
conversation  as  I  can  attempt  to  do  in  writing,  the  ver)' dc«p 
interest  I  feel  in  you,  and  my  earnest  desire  that  these  brief 
and  casual  meetings  on  this  side  of  death  should  be  followed 
up  on  the  other  side  of  it  in  that  reign  of  jierfect  blessednew 
where  sorrow,  and  sickness,  and  separation  are  unknown. 
Believing  as  1  do  in  the,  solemn  realities  of  a  coming  judg- 
ment and  coming  eternity,  1  beg  that  you  will  consider  il  lo 
be  from  no  other  cause  than  the  strength  of  my  affecuon  for 
you  that  I  venture  to  remind  you  of  the  everlasting  well  or 
the  everlasting  woe  to  which  we  are  fast  haHtenmp  If  I 
did  not  think  that  there  is  a  patent  way  of  UausiUun  Ixom 


468  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


death  to  life,  from  a  state  of  condemnation  to  a  state  of  ac- 
ceptance, I  would  be  the  last  man  to  offer  any  disturbance  on 
a  matter  which,  if  altogether  hopeless,  had  better  be  let 
alone  ;  but  confident  as  I  am  that  there  is  no  want  of  good- 
will on  the  part  of  our  Father  who  is  in  heaven,  that  He  is 
waiting  to  be  gracious — nay,  beseeching  one  and  all  of  us  to 
enter  into  reconciliation,  I  can  not  refrain  from  pressing  the 
assurance  upon  you  of  the  perfect  readiness  wherewith  your 
very  first  approaches  will  be  met  and  rejoiced  in  by  Him 
who  dwelleth  above  on  that  throne  which  is  at  once  the 
throne  of  grace  and  righteousness.  Let  us  be  very  certain 
that  Christ  will  cast  out  none  who  come  unto  Him,  and  that 
God  will  cast  out  none  who  come  unto  Him  through  Christ. 
It  is  true  that  He  is  determined,  and  that  in  the  most  author- 
itative and  peremptory  manner,  that  this  is  the  only  footing 
upon  which  He  will  receive  us,  and  that  there  is  salvation 
in  no  other  way  than  by  the  name  of  Christ.  But  let  us 
only  recollect  that  He  is  the  party  sinned  against,  and  that  it 
is  for  Him,  and  not  for  us,  to  dictate  the  terms  and  the  treaty 
of  reconciliation  ;  and  so  He  has  expressly  said,  that  no  man 
Cometh  to  the  Father  but  by  the  Son.  It  may  look  stern 
and  repulsive  the  being  told  that  out  of  this  way  we  shall 
never  meet  with  acceptance  from  God  ;  but  surely  this  is  all 
made  up  for,  all  most  fully  and  generously  compensated,  when 
we  are  further  told  that  in  this  way  of  it  we  shall  never  miss 
acceptance  with  God.  He  who  out  of  Christ  is  a  consuming 
fire,  is  in  Christ  a  reconciled  Father.  (2  Cor.,  v.,  18-20.) 
By  this  open  door  of  access  the  worst  and  ungodliest  of  men 
are  invited  to  draw  nigh,  that  our  sins  may  be  washed  out 
in  that  blood  which  cleanseth  from  all  sin,  and  why  not  our 
sin  ?  He  who  hath  the  Son  hath  life  ;  he  who  hath  not  the 
Son  hath  not  life.  The  acceptance  of  Christ,  then,  may  be 
called  the  turning-point  of  our  salvation  ;  it  is  the  great  act 
upon  the  doing  or  not  doing  of  which  there  hinges  our  eter- 
nity. On  the  one  hand,  if  we  receive  Him  by  faith,  we  shall 
receive  all  that  is  needful,  whether  for  the  preparation  here. 


FREDERICK  ADAMSON,  ESQ. 


or  the  enjoyment  hereafter,  of  life  everlastinp  ;  but  en  iho 
other  hand,  how  can  we  escape  if  we  neglect  so  preal  Kalva- 
tion?     (Heb.,  ii.,  3.) 

May  the  Spirit,  whose  office  it  is  to  brinp^  home  the  word 
to  our  hearts— may  He  open  our  hearts  to  the  truth  and  ten- 
derness of  these  sayings  ;  they  are  simple  but  sure,  and  wotild 
we  only  place  faith  in  the  gracious  promises  and  calls  Iwld 
out  in  the  Gospel,  even  to  the  farthest  off  in  rebellion,  llirn 
should  we  find  that  according  to  our  faith  so  will  it  be  done 
unto  us. 

Do  indulge  me,  my  dear  sir,  in  all  this,  and  put  it  down  to 
the  right  cause,  which  is  my  sense  of  the  duty  1  owe  to  a  much- 
loved  friend  ;  for  although  we  have  not  met  often  during  half 
a  century,  I  have  ever  entertained  a  very  strong  allection  to- 
ward you.  I  remember  well  the  strength  of  tliosc  amiable 
and  deeply-felt  affinities  which  bound  together,  as  with  all 
the  force  of  mutual  instinct,  our  family  ;  and  which  often  sinre 
I  have  witnessed  streaming  forth,  as  first  one  and  then  anoth- 
er of  your  desolated  household  in  St.  Andrews  was  taken  oH" 
by  death.  In  a  few  years  we  shall  all  be  mouldering  in  our 
coffins  ;  then  be  wise,  and  join  us.  May  Heaven  grant  that 
we  shall  be  found  side  by  side,  sharing  together  in  the  resur- 
rection of  the  blessed  ;  and  He  who  saith,  "  I  am  the  resur- 
rection and  the  life,"  now  stands  with  open  arms  to  receivo 
all  who  come  unto  Him,  and  declaring  this  imlo  all  in  word* 
of  deepest  pathos — grant  that  unto  us  they  may  prove  wonls 
of  power — "  He  that  believeth  in  me,  though  ho  were  dead, 
yet  shall  he  live  ;  and  whosoever  liveth  and  believeth  m  me 
shall  never  die." 

May  the  Giver  of  all  grace  pour  forth  Hia  best  blewin^fi 
upon  you  and  yours,  upon  dear  Mrs.  Adamson,  and  ujK)n  one 
and  all  of  your  much-loved  family.  Farewell,  my  dear  iir  ; 
I  leave  this  by  Monday's  boat  at  eleven  o'clock  ;  and  I  ran 
say  truly,  that  far  the  most  interesting  visits  1  have  made 
since  I  left  home  were  those  to  yourself  and  Mr  C.  I  can 
not  express  how  much  I  was  delighted  by  his  sUt**  of  miml 


470  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

— not  only  patient  in  tribulation,  but  rejoicing  in  hope.  Let 
me  die  the  death  of  the  righteous,  let  my  last  end  be  like  his. 
Ever  believe  me,  my  dear  sir,  yours  with  best  and  greatest 
regards,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCCLXXXVII.— To  Misses  Wallace. 

Burntisland,  lith  May^  1846, 

My  dear  Misses  Wallace — It  grieved  me  exceedingly  to 
hear  of  your  brother's  death,  and  it  grieves  me  still  further  to 
hear  of  your  sister's  illness. 

Short  of  religion  and  its. blessed  hopes,  no  adequate  comfort 
can  be  given  under  the  sore  and  afflicting  bereavement  which 
it  has  pleased  the  Almighty  God,  though  often  mysterious  in 
His  dealings  with  the  children  of  men,  to  lay  upon  you.  Yet 
poor  and  ineffectual  as  all  other  considerations  are,  I  must 
affirm  the  sufficiency  of  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  to  meet 
the  calamity  which  else  might  overwhelm  you.  Not  that  I 
would  forbid  your  tears,  for  our  Savior  himself,  who  wept  at 
the  tomb  of  Lazarus,  gives  to  the  sorrow  of  nature  the  sanc- 
tion and  the  sacredness  of  His  example.  But  let  us  not  for- 
get that  when  He  went  up  to  heaven.  He  took  up  along  with 
Him  all  the  sympathies  and  all  the  tenderness  which  He 
manifested  upon  earth.  Nor  can  I  name  a  passage  of  Scrip- 
ture more  endearing  or  more  fitted  to  soothe  and  alleviate 
even  the  deepest  of  our  sorrows  than  that  in  which  He  is  set 
forth  to  us  as  touched  with  a  fellow-feeling  of  our  infirmities, 
and  as  having  been  tried  in  all  points  even  as  we  are,  and  so 
able  to  succor  and  sustain  them  who  are  so  tried. 

Cast,  then,  the  whole  burden  upon  Him  of  this  heavy  vis- 
itation— "  Cast  thy  burden  upon  the  Lord,  and  He  will  sus- 
tain thee."  It  is  not  willingly  that  He  afflicts  the  children 
of  men  ;  and  let  us  assure  ourselves  both  of  the  wisdom  and 
the  goodness  of  a  Father  in  every  chasfisement  that  He  in- 
flicts, and  every  ingredient,  however  bitter,  which  He  pours 
into  the  cup  of  discipline. 

If  poor  Jessie  can  bear  to  be  read  to,  I  know  nothing  more 


MISS  WOOD.  4yj 


precious  than  our  Saviors  last  lenrrihened  dibooursc  to  Hii  dis- 
ciples. The  filteenth  chapter  of  John  has  long  been  a  par- 
ticular favorite  of  mine.  The  2d  verse  is  pecuharly  aj.,,!,- 
cable  to  those  who  mourn  the  death  of  relatives,  as  luak.np 
known  to  us  the  purpose  of  the  preat  Spiritual  Husbandman 
in  pruning  the  branches  which  have  been  yielding  some  fruit, 
even  that  they  should  bring  forth  more  fruit. 

Offer  my  affectionate  condolence  to  Mrs.  Thomas  Young  on 
this  sad  occasion  ;  and  ever  believe  me.  my  dear  Misses  Wal- 
lace, the  sincere  and  sympathizing  friend  of  you  both, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

PS. — You  must  know  Dr.  Buchanan's  work  on  affliction. 
I  have  more  than  once  recommended  it  as  a  fit  companion  in 
houses  of  mourning.  T.  C. 

No.  CCCLXXXVIII._To  Miss  Wood. 

Edinbirgh,  5lh  July,  1846. 
My  dear  Miss  Wood — I  should  have  acknowledged  much 
sooner  the  affecting  intimation  from  Ehe  of  your  sister's  death, 
which  I  felt  much  at  the  time,  and  have  borne  the  impres- 
sion of  in  my  heart  ever  since.  There  are  not  half  a  dozen 
surviving  acquaintances  in  the  world  whom  I  have  longer 
known — the  period  of  my  recollections  as  a  visitor  in  your 
house  going  back  to  very  early  childhood.  It  must  have 
proved  to  you  a  very  desolating  stroke  ;  but  what  precious 
alleviations  in  the  blessed  assurance  that  she  was  one  of  (rod's 
own  people,  whose  life  throughout  has  been  one  of  consii»tent 
discipleship,  and  who  carried  in  her  very  aspect  the  expres- 
sion of  great  peace  and  great  joy  in  believing.  May  the 
thought  of  this  comfort  and  sustain  you  under  this  heavy  be- 
reavement, and  may  it  wean  your  affections  still  more  from  a 
world,  the  nearest  and  dearest  objects  of  which  may  at  any 
time  be  withdrawn  from  us.  It  is  thu.s  that  the  great  Spir- 
itual Husbandman  (John,  xv.,  1,  2).  in  the  exerrine  of  a  wim) 
and  salutary  discipline,  draws  the  aliectioas  of  Uis  children 


472  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

upward  and  heavenward  to  Himself;  and,  superadding  the 
lessons  of  His  providence  to  the  lessons  of  His  word,  teaches 
us  a  greater  diligence  and  devotedness  than  heretofore,  in  be- 
ing followers  of  those  who  through  faith  and  patience  are  now 
inheriting  the  promises. 

I  feel  quite  sure  that  her  most  frequent  and  favorite  vol- 
ume must  have  been  the  Bible.  I  should  like  to  know  if 
there  were  any  of  our  great  old  popular  authors  in  whom  she 
took  pecuhar  delight.  The  truth  is,  that  I  am  getting  fonder 
of  these  every  day  ;  and  the  very  books  which  formed  the 
spiritual  aliment  both  of  my  father  and  mother  in  their  de- 
clining years,  are  now  prized  by  me  as,  next  to  the  Scriptures, 
the  wisest  and  the  best.  I  rejoice,  for  example,  in  "  Mar- 
shall on  Sanctification,"  and  am  pleased  to  think  that  he  was 
one  of  my  father's  greatest  favorites.  But  I  have  a  far  more 
vivid  recollection,  and  had  indeed'  the  opportunity  of  more 
closely  watching  and  observing  my  mother's  death-bed  than 
his  ;  and  she  died,  I  would  not  say  in  the  triumphs  and  ecsta- 
sies, but  in  the  calm  and  settled  assurance  of  the  faith.  I  nev- 
er understood  so  perfectly  as  from  the  view  of  her  last  hours, 
the  expression  of  the  prophet — the  peace  which  is  as  a  river. 

This  intimation  from  Elie,  now  lying  before  me,  carries  me 
back  into  a  far  retrospect  of  the  years  of -my  boyhood.  Your 
father  and  mother,  Dr.  and  Miss  Reid,  Miss  Anna  Wood,  your 
aunt,  the  venerable  Mrs.  James  Wood,  Mrs.  Peter  Chalmers, 
her  son  and  daughters,  are  one  and  all  of  them  pictured  on 
my  remembrance,  and  I  should  add  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alexan- 
der Wood  and  their  sons,  to  complete  my  enumeration  of  a 
living  society  which  has  wholly  disappeared.  Truly  this  is 
not  our  abiding  city.  May  we  look  to  the  city  which  hath 
foundations,  whose  builder  and  maker  is  God  ;  and  may  the 
gracious  manifestations  of  our  reconciled  Father  in  Jesus 
Christ  brighten  and  cheer  to  both  of  us  the  remainder  of  our 
earthly  pilgrimage. 

May  I  beg  my  kindest  regards  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Walter  Wood, 
as  also  to  my  good  worthy  Christian  friend,  Mr.  Archibald. 


MRS.  DUxNLOP.  ^^ 


Mrs.  Chalmers  and  all  here  join  in  kimk-st  wishes.     Be- 
lieve me  ever,  my  dear  Miss  Wood,  yours  very  truly. 

Thomas  Chalmers. 


LETTERS  TO  MRS.  KEITH  DUNLOP. 
No.  CCCLXXXIX. 

Edinburgh,  2d  February,  1829. 

My  dear  Madam — I  have  great  pleasure  in  assurinp  you 
of  the  success  and  the  great  benefit  that  attended  the  insti- 
tution of  the  Catholic  schools  in  Glasgow.  The  priest,  on 
the  one  hand,  insisted  that  they  should  be  taught  by  school- 
masters  of  his  own  persuasion  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  ho 
consented  that  the  Bible  should  be  one  of  the  Bchool-books.  I 
have  repeatedly  visited  one  of  these  schools,  and  rejoiced  in 
the  opportunity  of  such  an  approximation  to  a  sect  with  whom 
I  hold  it  most  desirable  that  we  should  have  free  and  fre- 
quent intercourse.  I  always  experienced  a  most  cordial  re- 
ception, and  have  even  been  asked  to  address  the  children, 
which  I  did,  and  was  afterward  thanked  by  the  teacher  for 
doing  so,  although  the  address  was  in  the  very  spirit  and  mix- 
timents  that  I  should  have  reckoned  the  most  ajjpropriate  for 
the  children  of  any  Protestant  school. 

In  «hort,  I  hold  an  institution  of  this  sort  to  l)c  in  ovory  re- 
spect a  wise  and  a  hopeful  one  in  every  neiphborhoo<l  where 
you  have  a  number  of  uneducated  Catholic  children.  I  would 
rather  have  a  reading  than  a  non-reading  Catholic  |K)puialion 
at  any  time  ;  insomuch,  that  ev  n  did  ihey  refuse  our  Bible 
as  a  school-book,  I  should  esteem  the  setting  up  of  a  school  a 
step  in  advance  in  the  cause  of  philanlhnipy.  I  have  the 
honor  to  be,  my  dear  madam,  yours  most  respectfully, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCCXC. 

28rA  JuJf.  1842 
My  dear  Madam — We  are  still  in  Ireland,  where  we  ex- 


474  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

pect  to  remain  a  few  weeks  longer ;  but  if  God  will,  I  trust 
we  shall  be  in  Scotland  before  the  expiry  of  the  month  of 
August. 

Your  letter  came  to  me  some  time  ago  ;  and  I  was  much 
interested  by  the  perusal  of  it.  I  should  like  you  to  attain 
a  settled  comfort,  and  that,  notwithstanding  the  defects  of 
which  you  complain,  in  sanctification  and  personal  meetness 
for  heaven.  It  is  the  very  faith  which  gives  the  first  sensa- 
tion of  peace  with  God  that  must  ever  be  recurred  to  and 
kept  hold  of  in  order  to  perfect  our  holiness.  *'  Hold  fast 
your  confidence,  and  the  rejoicing  of  your  hope  firm  unto  the 
end."  I  wish  that  you  could  fall  on  the  habit  of  repairing 
daily  and  currently  to  the  atonement  by  Christ,  for  keeping 
up  your  peace  with  the  God  against  whom  you  daily  and  cur- 
rently offend.  It  is  not  one  great  act  of  mercy  alone  that 
Christ  hath  purchased  for  us  ;  it  is  mercy  in  every  time  of 
need — a  piecemeal  and  ever-recurring  mercy  through  Him 
who  is  our  daily,  morning,  and  evening  sacrifice.  "  If  any 
man  sin,  we  have  an  advocate  with  the  Father^in  Jesus 
Christ,  who  is  the  propitiation  for  our  sins.*^  It  is  thus  that 
we  should  draw  from  His  mercy  as  well  as  from  His  grace,  as 
we  stand  in  need  of  it.  And  let  us  not  be  afraid  lest  under 
this  economy  of  a  daily  forgiveness  for  our  daily  offenses,  we 
shall  be  encouraged  to  sin  afresh  that  we  may  be  pardoned 
afresh.  "  These  things,"  says  the  Apostle  John,  "  I  write 
unto  you  that  ye  sin  not."  (See  1  John,  i.  and  ii.)  The  man 
who  is  truly  desirous  of  mer'-y  to  pardon,  is  as  truly  desirous 
of  grace  to  help  him.  Let  us  have  faith  for  both,  and  we 
shall  have  the  fulfillment  of  both.  The  great  secret,  it  has 
been  said,  of  practical  godliness,  or  of  the  Christian  life,  is  to 
keep  up  peace  in  the  heart,  yet  along  with  it  a  vigilant  care 
of  our  walk  and  conversation.  Thus  do  we  combine  the  se- 
curity of  the  Christian  faith  with  the  diligence  of  the  Chris- 
tian practice. 

I  am  very  glad  you  have  written  me  ;  and  I  shall  be  most 
happy  to  reply  as  T  can  to  all  your  communications.     I  feel 


MRS.  DTJNLOP.  475 


that  I  have  still  much  to  say,  which  at  present  I  have  neither 
time  nor  space  lor.  Let  me  at  present  conclude  with  the 
apostolic  blessing,  "  The  very  God  ofpeuce  sanctify  you  whol- 
ly." I  have  often  been  struck  with  the  juxtajwsilion  here  of 
•peace  and  sand ificat ion.  There  is  a  way  ol'cornbuiing  and 
harmonizing  both.  I  ever  am,  my  dear  madam,  yours  very 
truly  and  with  much  regard,  Thomas  Chal.meks. 


[Largs,  \1ih  June,  1844. — My  dear  Sir— The  last  day  1  wm  id 
your  house,  a  trifle  occurred  that  gave  rise  to  fceJinjzs  I  would  in  vain 
attempt  to  express.  I  noticed  two  heauliful  salvors  on  the  table,  and 
said  something  about  them  to  one  of  the  little  crirls,  who  said.  **  Vp», 
papa  got  them  in  remembrance  ofsomelKxly  near  lila»u«iw  :"  and  tiim- 
inor  one  up,  she  read — '*  Mrs.  Glaspow,  of  Mouutj;rofnan."  What  do- 
lifrht  would  it  have  given  my  dearest  earlldy  Irit'iui  t<i  have  known  »h« 
was  so  aflectionatelv  remembered  by  one  sh<*  looked  up  to  a>  thr  moann 
of  her  present  peace,  her  hopes  for  eternity  !  I  have  ever  since  determ- 
ined to  tell  you  a  circumstance  that  occurred  two  days  before  her 
death.  She  said  to  those  attending  her — "  Let  my  situation  l»e  a  warn- 
ing to  you  ;  you  see  that  the  moment  the  agony  of  pain  is  relievtvl. 
I  am  so  exhausted  that  sleep  overjK.wers  me  had  I  now  my  peace 
to  make,  what  would  be  my  situation?  But  I  know  in  wh«»m  I  hare 
trusted,  and  my  heart  is  at  "ease."  Oh  !  my  dear  >ir.  how  c»ften  have 
I  wept  with  gratitude  to  you  on  thinking  over  this  wcne  !  Before  her 
knowledge  ol  vou  her  mind  was  (piite  at  sea.  and  .loiucMic  amiotion 
quite  unTiinged  her:  vou  brought  her  peace  and  fortilude  to  turn  to 
othcT  objects  ;  and  I  have  often  wished  to  tell  you  wh«t  I  %»•«--  mn 
would  give  vou  pleasure,  but  I  could  not  without  a  degree  of  eimMio* 
one  does  not  like  t<.  exhibit.  I  got.  however,  a  message  two  day»  agcj 
to  be  reailv  to  go  home  at  a  mr.mcnt's  warning,  being  deprived,  not  of 
mv  consciousness,  but  of  mv  phvsical  p)wer  at  once.  The  d<irtoT  WM 
with  me  almost  immediatelv.  an.l  I  am  now  nearly  well,  but  put  cm 
verv  short  allowance  of  meat  or  drink  for  some  time  ;  yet  i  have  liiU« 
doubt  I  shall  .soon  be  well  again,  and  only  wish  that  1  may  retain  the 
still,  solemn,  confidential  feelmg  of  immediate  dei»endence  that  at  pre.. 
ent  soothes  everv  emotion 'of  my  mind,  and  diffuses  over  ii  »^"»'"|i; 
deeper  than  the  tranquillity  of  a  summer  evening— I  cc*ild  aim^t  ^J 
something  holv-      Think  of  me,  dear  sir,  where  th-  '  ^ 

man  avail  much,  and  believe  me,  under  every  cir. 
most  grateful  respect  and  affection,  yours,  ^^ 


476  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


No.  CCCXCL 
Edinburgh,  Morningside,  14th  June,  1844. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Dunlop — I  received  your  deeply  interest- 
ing letter  this  morning. 

I  have  long  cherished  the  recollection  of  dear  Mrs.  Glas- 
gow^,  as  being  indeed  among  the  kindest  and  truest  friends  I 
ever  had  in  this  world;  and  rejoiced  in  her  growing  congeni- 
ality with  all  that  is  most  spiritual  and  substantial  in  the  Gos- 
pel of  Jesus  Christ.  There  is  nothing  which  I  have  oftener 
recurred  to  in  looking  back  upon  the  past,  than  the  delight 
wherewith  one  of  her  elegant  and  cultivated  literature  could 
peruse  the  homeliest  authorship  of  the  good  old  Puritanic  writ- 
ers, whom  she  at  one  time  would  have  recoiled  from  as  utter- 
ly distasteful.  Her  dying  testimony  to  the  faith  is  indeed 
most  precious.  It  is  new  to  me;  and  I  feel  peculiarly  grate- 
ful for  your  statement  of  it,  which  I  shall  reserve  as  one  of 
the  most  valued  memorabilia  in  my  possession. 

"We  are  all  greatly  concerned  to  hear  of  your  illness  ;  and 
shall  be  most  interested  to  hear,  by  however  short  a  notice, 
of  your  state  of  health  ;  only  do  not  make  any  exertion  beyond 
your  strength.  I  rejoice  to  hear  from  you  of  your  mental  and 
spiritual  state — that  of  still  and  confidential  dependence.  Be 
assured  that  the  stronger  and  simpler  your  reliance  is,  the 
more  acceptable  to  God.  He  likes  to  be  trusted.  Without 
faith  it  is  impossible  to  please  Him  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  more  unfaltering  our  faith,  or  the  more  like  it  is  to  the 
unstaggering  faith  of  Abraham,  the  better  is  He  pleased.  In 
other  words,  our  comfort  and  His  glory  are  at  one.  In  qui- 
etness and  confidence  then  may  you  have  strength.  "  Be  still, 
and  know  that  He  is  God."  (Ps.  xlvi.,  10.)  "  May  the  God 
of  hope  fill  you  with  all  peace  and  joy  in  believing."  (Rom., 
XV.,  13.)  "Acquaint  thyself  with  Him,  and  be  at  peace." 
(Job,  xxi.,  21.)  I  have  often  thought  of  a  verse  in  Deuter- 
onomy as  peculiarly  applicable  to  the  case  of  one  who  is  phys- 
ically helpless,  but  still  in  that  condition  is  thus  encouraged 


MRS.  DUNLOP.  ^jj 


to  trust  in  God  :  "  The  Lord  will  reiKM.t  hiinselflor  IJ..  serv 
ants,  ichen  He  seeth  tluit  their  jmvcr  is  ^onc,  and  that  there 
IS  none  shut  up  or  left."     (Deut..  xxxii.,  30  ) 

It  is  my  earnest  prayer  that  whatever  may  bdall  m.  the 
wise  and  mereiiul  providence  olliod.you  nniy  be  nphd.i  in 
the  Gospel  attitude  of  looking  unto  Jesus.  One  apostle  telU 
us  of  the  meekness  and  gentleness  of  Christ  ;  another  tdli 
us  that  God  is  love.  Purely  in  the  face  of  such  declarations 
It  were  wrong  to  refuse  that  confidence  for  which  so  deep  and 
solid  a  foundation  has  been  laid.  "  Rejoice  in  the  Lord  al- 
ways ;  and  again  I  say,  Rejoice."  (Phil.,  iv.,  1.)  May  the 
6th  and  7lh  verses  also  be  abundantly  realized  upon  you  ;  as 
also  Romans,  v.,  11— "Joying  in  God  through  our  Lord  Jesui 
Christ,  by  whom  you  have  received  the  atonement." 

Our  whole  family,  including  Mrs.  Hanna,  who  is  with  us, 
unite  in  kindest  and  most  affectionate  remembrance.  "The 
Lord  bless  thee  and  keep  thee.  The  Lord  make  His  face 
shine  upon  thee,  and  be  gracious  unto  thee.  The  Lord  lift 
up  His  countenance  upon  thee,  and  give  thee  peace."  1  ever 
am,  my  very  dear  madam,  yours  with  the  utmost  regard, 

Thomas  Chalmebs. 

No.  CCCXCIL 

Edinburgh,  Mormncsidk,  23d  Jutu,  1844. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Du.nlop — We  have  great  pleasure  in  »«'nd- 
ing  our  two  girls  to  you.  and  are  sure  that  they  will  be  quilo 
happy  if  they  can  contribute  in  any  way  to  your  help  and 
comlbrt. 

Any  benefit  or  gratification  you  may  have  received  from 
my  last  letter  must  have  been  in  the  proportion  of  its  being 
charged  with  precious  and  pertinent  Scripture.  I  could  have 
no  hope  of  saying  any  thing  elfectual  apart  fn>m  that  vidurn**. 
which  is  indeed  the  Book  of  Life  to  all  who  read  it  with  ihe 
docility  of  little  children  ;  but  it  does  give  one  a  confidence 
in  writing  when  he  feels  that  all  which  he  vcnturrt  to  tUlo 
or  to  atfirm  is  solidly  grounded  on  the  word  of  God. 


4.79  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

There  is  no  continuous  passage  which  I  read  with  greater 
delight  than  the  fifty-third  of  Isaiah  ;  I  remember  when  I 
made  at  least  one  perusal  of  it  a  daily  task.  The  very  ca- 
dence of  its  sentences  is  dear  to  me  ;  and  I  feel  something  in- 
conceivably sublime  in  that  strain  of  older  inspiration  first  ut- 
tered in  distant  antiquity,  and  coming  down  through  success- 
ive generations  to  elevate  and  sustain  the  faith  of  those  on 
whom  the  latter  ends  of  the  world  have  come.  There  is  to 
my  mind  an  inexpressible  charm  in  the  substance  of  evan- 
gelical doctrine  couched  in  the  phraseology  of  those  holy  men 
of  God  whose  writings  served  to  irradiate  those  periods  of  an 
earlier  dispensation. 

Instead  of  particularizing  certain  verses,  as  I  did  in  my 
last,  let  me  specify  two  or  three  more  of  those  continuous  por- 
tions which  I  would  signalize  by  a  particular  recommendation. 

The  next,  then,  which  I  would  mention  is  our  Savior's  dis- 
course to  His  disciples,  in  John,  xiv.-xvi.  There  are  many 
individual  germs  in  it,  which  I  forbear  pointing  out.  The 
passage  in  it  which  interests  me  most  is  the  first  half  of  the 
fifteenth  chapter.  Again,  nothing  can  be  more  overpowering 
than  His  prayer  in  the  seventeenth  chapter. 

The  substance  of  the  Gospel,  condensed  within  the  space 
of  a  few  verses,  we  have  in  the  last  half  of  2  Cor.,  v.  No- 
where are  the  calls  to  reconciliation  more  free  and  open,  and 
nowhere  is  the  regenerating  efiect  of  our  compliance  with 
these  calls  affirmed  more  distinctly  or  more  peremptorily. 

My  especial  favorite  is  1  John,  iv.  The  love  of  God,  the 
manifestation  of  that  love  in  sending  His  Son  to  be  the  pro- 
pitiation for  our  sins  ;  the  belief  of  the  apostle  and  His  dis- 
ciples in  the  reaUty  of  the  object  thus  presented  (verse  16) ; 
and,  lastly,  the  efiect  of  this  belief  in  working  a  love  unmix- 
ed with  terror — these  all  evince  the  precedency  of  faith  to 
love,  and  they  imply,  moreover,  the  faith  of  appropriation,  a 
lesson  further  and  very  decisively  told  us  in  the  next  chapter, 
verse  11 — a  precious  lesson  truly,  and  which  I  rejoice  to  ob- 
Bcrve  that  you  so  prized  in  the  reading  of  Anderson's  "  Essay." 


MRS.  DUNLOP. 


47» 


"  Now,  the  God  of  hope  fill  you  with  all  joy  and  peace  ia 
believing,  that  ye  may  abound  ia  hope  ihrougii  coinlort  of  iho 
Scriptures  and  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost." 

I  think  Clarke's  "Scripture  Promises"  a  very  ])reciou«  col- 
lection ;  and  I  know  not  a  more  .sati.slyiii|r  eviiiftice  ol  Iho 
Spirit  being  at  work  with  us  than  when  the  power  of  Scrip- 
ture is  felt  by  us. 

All  here  join  in  best  and  most  afi'ectionatc  repards.  Mrs. 
Hanna  is  with  us.  She  is  better  ;  and  Mrs.  Chalinert  con- 
valescent from  a  late  attack.  Ever  believe  me,  my  very  dear 
madam,  yours  most  truly  and  with  great  regard, 

TiioMAs  Chalmerb. 

No.  CCCXCIII. 
Ebinbtjrgh,  MoRNiNGsiDE,  2\tt  JuJy,  1844. 
My  dear  Mrs.  Dunlop — I  feel  exceedingly  interested  by 
your  last  letter,  and  all  the  more  that  it  makes  me  feel  tto 
gladly  and  hopefully  of  your  spiritual  state.  There  la  not  a 
more  satisfactor}-  evidence  of  the  Holy  (ihost  having  been  at 
work  with  the  soul,  than  that  the  Scriptures  come  home  to 
it  with  a  feeling  of  weight  and  preciousness  greater  than  wont 
to  be  expressed  in  other  days.  It  is  not  Nature  that  eHecU 
such  a  manifestation,  but  a  light  from  on  high — not  a  light 
which  beams  direct  upon  the  mind,  so  as  to  evoire  upon  it 
other  truths  than  those  which  are  to  be  found  in  the  Hiblc. 
but  a  light  which  shines  through  the  Bihle  as  the  grral  me- 
dium of  conveyance  between  the  Spirit  of  Uod  and  ihc  spint 
of  man.  It  was  evidently  such  a  light  that  shone  ujwn  the 
Psalmist,  and  of  which  he  tells  so  much,  both  of  its  jjowet 
and  its  enjoyment,  throughout  the  whole  of  the  I  P.»lh  Psalm. 
In  this  view  the  lUth  Psalm  too  is  exceedingly  to  be  prized. 
It  is  true  that  there  is  no  direct  or  palpable  ni.-ntion  hcr« 
made  of  the  Savior  ;  but  there  are  manifold  recoinm.ndatu.ns 
of  that  word  which  testifieth  of  the  Savior.  For  when  it  M 
said  that  the  Spirit  taketh  ..f  the  tbings  of  Christ  and  .how 
eih  them  uuio  us.  1  understand  by  thi«  thai  He  ukclh  U  the 


480  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


things  which  are  told  of  Christ  in  Scripture,  and  showeth 
them  unto  us.  And  it  is  truly  delightful  to  meet  with  so 
much  of  Christ  in  the  Old  Testament— as  in  Psalm  Ixxxiv., 
9,  where  the  Psalmist  prays  substantially  just  as  we  do  for 
justification  ;  and  Psalm  Ixxxiv.,  11,  where  he  looks  just  as 
we  do  to  the-  right  quarter  for  sanctification.  "  The  Lord 
will  give  grace  and  glory" — grace  here  and  glory  hereafter — 
the  "  earnest  of  our  inheritance"  (Eph.,  i.,  14)  on  this  side 
of  death,  and  the  inheritance  itself  on  the  other  side  of  it. 
See  also  Acts,  xxvi.,  18.  Then  we  have  Psalm  Ixxxv.,  10, 
where  we  have  the  blessed  union  of  the  attributes  in  the  work 
of  our  redemption  ;  and  in  the  alliance  between  peace  and 
righteousness,  we  recognize  the  doctrine  of  God  being  just 
while  the  Justifier  of  them  who  believe  in  Jesus. — (Rom., 
iii.,  26.)  Or  which  is  identical  with  this,  and  going  back 
again  to  the  Old  Testament,  we  read  of  God  being  at  once 
a  just  God  and  a  Savior. 

I  exceedingly  rejoice  in  that  the  Scriptures  which  I  last 
pointed  out  have  come  so  powerfully  home  to  your  heart — 
which  they  could  not  do  unless  in  your  mind  there  was  a 
sense  of  their  reality.  You  are  right  in  the  conclusion  that 
such  feelings  and  emotions  could  not  have  been  awakened 
without  faith  in  the  glorious  truths  by  which  they  have  been 
called  forth.  Some  talk  of  the  reflex  act  of  faith,  and  try  to 
ascertain  its  existence  by  a  sort  of  direct  consciousness.  They 
may  succeed  in  this,  though  I  should  apprehend  that  we  are 
not  so  sensible  of  faith  itself  as  of  its  fruits  or  effects  ;  and 
that  the  Savior's  test  is  applicable  to  this  too  :  "  By  its  fruits 
shall  ye  know  it."  May  the  love,  and  the  peace,  and  the  joy, 
and  all  the  other  fruits  which  are  enumerated  in  Galatians, 
v.,  22,  23,  grow  every  day  upon  you  in  brighter  and  more 
discernible  characters.  At  the  same  time,  never  forget  that 
it  is  not  by  looking  for  them  that  you  create  them,  but  by 
"  looking  unto  Jesus." — (Heb.,  xii.,  2.)  In  other  words,  while 
not  forbidden,  but  the  opposite,  to  look  inwardly.  (2  Cor., 
tiii.,  5),  I  would  still  say,  look  much  oftener  outwardly  than 


MRS.  DUN  LOP. 


461 


inwardly.  Look  more  to  the  object  of  faith  than/ar  the  act 
of  laith.  Or,  in  the  language  of  good  Richard  Haxier,  for 
every  look  you  cast  inwardly  and  downwardly  u|x)n  yourMilf. 
cast  ten  looks  outwardly  and  u])wardly  u|)on  tlie  .Savior. 

All  here  unite  in  most  cordial  regards  to  you.  Ever  be- 
lieve me,  my  dear  Mrs.  Dunlop,  yours  with  great  esteem  and 
regard,  Thomas  Ciulmkks. 

No.  CCCXCIV. 

MoRNiNGSiDE,  Edi.nburgu,  8tA  Seplcmbfr,  1H44. 
My  dear  Mada-M — 1  have  not  been  in  church  lor  four 
weeks,  with  the  exception  of  the  afternoon  of  this  day.  But 
there  is  something  very  enjoyable  in  a  Sabbath  at  home, 
though  I  do  not  think  that  even  it  is  an  enjoyment  that 
should  be  courted  at  the  expense  of  duty — I  mean  the  duly 
of  not  forsaking  the  assembling  of  ourselves  together.  But 
when  one  can  have  a  quiet  and  solitary  Sabbath  with  a  cleiu 
and  quiet  conscience,  1  know  few  things  more  exquisite  The 
chapter  which  chiefly  engrossed  and  interested  me  ha«  long 
been  a  favorite  one — 2  Cor.,  v.  It  ranks  with  me  among 
what  I  call  the  superlative  passages  of  the  Bible.  I  know 
not  where  a  greater  richness  of  evangelical  truth  is  to  be 
found  condensed  within  narrower  hmits  than  in  its  eight  con- 
cluding verses,  where  we  are  presented  with  the  pnnriple 
of  Christian  obedience,  the  mighty  lransili»>n  w  hich  all  un- 
dergo who  are  in  Christ,  the  free  and  urgent  entreaties  of 
God  Himself  to  enter  upon  this  blessed  union,  and.  lastly,  the 
firm  and  sure  guarantee  of  our  safety,  and  of  His  favor  in 
that  double  exchange  which  He  has  instituted  between  the 
sinner  and  the  Savior,  by  which  they  were  made,  a*  it  were. 
to  change  places— our  sins  laid  to  His  account,  and  He  b<-*f- 
ing  the  full  burden  of  them— His  righteouMu-ss  laid  lo  our 
ac'count,  and  we  adnntted  to  the  full  reward  of  it  What 
stupendous  blessings  are  thus  placed  within  rnir  rwch. 
"  Open  thy  mouth  wule,  and  1  will  fill  U."  "  A.k.  and  y. 
shall  receive  ;  seek,  and  ye  shall  find  ;  knock,  and  >t  dialliic 
V.  X 


482  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


opened  unto  you."  Other  assurances  equally  precious  are  to 
be  found  in  2  Cor.,  vii.,  2,  17,  18  ;  Isaiah,  i.,  18  ;  1  John, 
v.,  11,  with  innumerable  other  passages  in  the  Psalms  and 
Prophets  of  the  Old,  and  in  the  Gospels  and  Epistles  of  the 
New  Testament. 

The  Hannas,  including  Tommy,  and  accompanied  by  my 
daughter  Margaret,  are  now  on  their  Fife  expedition,  whithei 
I  meant  to  have  gone  too  had  I  been  quite  well.  I  find  that 
I  do  not  agree  with  locomotion,  and  the  necessity  under  which 
I  am  laid  to  refuse  applications  for  all  sorts  of  service  wher- 
ever I  go,  is  excessively  irksome  to  me.  Grace  is  now  in 
Kirkaldy.  Mrs.  Chalmers  is  in  her  ordinary  health  ;  and  all 
unite  in  the  expression  of  their  warmest  regards  to  you. 

I  had  a  very  agreeable  call  the  other  day  from  Miss  Maria 
Vans  Agnew,  who  has  kindly  undertaken  to  aid  us  in  the 
"West  Port.  I  ever  am,  my  dear  madam,  yours  very  grate- 
fully and  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

CCCXCV. 

Edinburgh,  Morningside,  22d  September,  1844.  ' 
My  dear  Mrs.  Dunlop — I  am  gradually  coming  round  by 
repose  and  retirement  ;  but  it  is  altogether  out  of  the  ques- 
tion that  I  should  again  so  implicate  myself  in  public  busi- 
ness as  I  have  done  hitherto. 

I  rejoice  that  your  theological  views  should  be  so  clear  and 
satisfactory  ;  or,  instead  of  using  a  term  so  scholastic  as  theo- 
logical, I  should  rather  say,  I  rejoice  that  you  are  enabled  to 
make  such  a  confident  personal  application  of  the  undoubted 
truths  of  Christianity  to  your  own  case  in  particular.  And 
be  assured  that  there  is  the  fullest  warrant  for  this  in  Scrip- 
ture, which  abounds  in  such  terms  as  fully  entitle  the  reader 
to  transmute  the  general  into  the  particular  and  the  person- 
al ;  as,  ''Whosoever  w^ill,  let  him  come  and  take  of  the  wa- 
ters of  life  freely" — therefore  may  I  so  c^me.  Or,  "  Whoso- 
ever calleth  on  the  name  of  the  Lord  shall  be  saved*' — let 
me  therefore  thus  call.     Or,  "  Look  unto  me,  all  ye  enda  of 


MRS.  DUNLOP. 


the  earth,  and  be  saved"— let  me.  therefore,  coundeiiliy  look 
unto  Jesus  for  salvation.  Or,  -  Even,  one  that  ahketl.  rc- 
ceiveth"— let  me,  therefore,  ask  in  the  full  belief  of  ilu-  truth 
ol  this  saying  ;  and,  according  to  my  belief,  »o  will  it  be 
done  unto  me. 

The  same  thing  is  admirably  made  out  by  Dr.  Anderron, 
author  of  the  first  of  the  "  Three  Essays  on  Saving  Faith." 
which  you  so  much  liked.  Aud  the  mention  of  him  suggeBl* 
Cud  worth,  the  author  of  the  third  of  these  Essays,  and  which 
consists  of  so  many  aphorisms.  If  you  have  access  to  the 
'^  Free  Church  Magazine,"  and  I  think  there  should  be  copies 
of  it  in  Largs,  then  let  me  recommend  an  article  in  the  pres- 
ent number  (September)  on  the  Religious  Experience  of  this 
Mr.  Cudworth,  who,  late  in  life,  underwent  a  remarkable  en- 
largement in  his  views  ;  and  that  on  the  strength  of  that 
very  faith  which,  in  all  its  simplicity,  he  so  well  expounds  in 
the  aphorisms  which  you  have  read. 

The  dread  of  Antinomianisrn  has  led  some  to  cast  an  ob- 
scuration on  the  freeness  of  the  Gospel,  and  to  view  with  jeal- 
ousy the  representations  of  those  who  set  forth  this  freeness 
in  all  its  simplicity  and  fullness.  It  is  thus  that  many  speak 
suspiciously  and  with  apprehension  of  a  Tract,  recently  writ- 
ten by  Horatius  Bonar,  of  Kelso,  entitled  "  Believe  and  lyive." 
I  confess  that  I  do  not  sympathize  with  them.  Shcuild  you 
get  the  Tract,  I  am  persuaded  you  will  find  the  same  com- 
fort and  refreshment  in  it  that  you  derived  from  the  "  Emays 
on  Saving  Faith,"  which  I  put  into  your  hands. 

But  it  is  a  great  thing  that  we  have  Scripture  itself  at  all 
times  to  repair  to,  whether  we  have  these  human  expositions 
of  Scripture  or  not.  It  alone  is  able  to  make  wise  unto  sal- 
vation through  the  faith  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus.  May  you 
ever  continue  through  the  comfort  of  these  prrrious  records 
to  abound  more  and  more  in  hope  by  the  power  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  being  filled  with  all  peace  and  joy  in  believing.  I 
ever  am,  my  dear  madam,  yours  very  truly, 

Thomab  Chalmkrs 


484  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


No.  CCCXCVI. 
Edinburgh,  Morningside,  13th  October,  1844. 

My  dear,  Mrs.  Dunlop — In  the  absence  of  all  sensible 
tokens  for  good,  we  should  not  let  go  our  confidence  in  the 
efficacy  of  prayer.  What  a  large  and  liberal  warrant  is 
held  out  for  intercession  in  the  Scriptures.  God  willeth  in- 
tercessions to  be  made  for  all  men,  and  on  this  ground,  too, 
that  He  willeth  all  men  to  be  saved,  and  to  come  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  truth. — (1  Tim.,  ii.,  1-4.)  Were  our  faith 
equal  to  God's  faithfulness,  we  should  find  a  glorious  verifi- 
cation of  the  saying,  that  all  things  are  possible  to  him  that 
believeth. — (Mark,  ix.,  23.)  It  is  my  confidence  in  the  effi- 
cacy of  believing  prayer  which  leads  me  to  acquiesce  in  the 
prophecy  of  a  nation  being  born  in  a  day.  In  the  same  evan- 
gelist, Mark,  we  have  a  still  stronger  declaration  of  the  mighty 
power  of  faith  ;  xi.,  23,  24.  There  is  much  to  be  gathered 
from  the  juxtaposition  of  what  is  said  in  verses  25  and  26. 
No  man  who  reads  all  the  four  in  connection  could  possibly 
have  the  faith  described  in  the  two  first,  if  conscious  that  he 
failed  in  the  forgiveness  enjoined  in  the  two  last  verses — a 
proof  that  faith,  in  one  of  the  very  highest  of  its  exercises, 
could  not  possibly  lead  to  Antinomianism. 

I  do  hope  and  pray  that  you  continue  to  have  great  peace 
and  joy  in  believing,  and  further,  that  the  joy  of  the  Lord  is 
your  strength.  His  very  promulgation  of  the  law  that  we 
should  love  Him,  and  His  assigning  to  this  law  the  highest 
place  in  His  code,  making  it  the  first  and  greatest  of  His  com- 
mandments, is  evidence  in  itself  that  He  has  presented  us 
with  adequate  grounds  and  objects  for  that  faith  without 
which  it  were  impossible  to  love,  as  without  which  it  is  im- 
possible to  please  Him.  May  your  faith  grow  exceedingly, 
working  more  and  more  by  love,  and  abounding  move  and 
more  in  all  the  fruits  of  righteousness.  I  ever  am,  my  dear 
madam,  yours  with  great  esteem  and  regard, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 


MRS.  DUN  LOP. 


No.  CCCXCVII. 
Edinburgh,  Morningsidb,  lOth  Septtmbfr,  1«44. 
My  dear  Mr.s.  Ddnlop — I  can  not  adequately  cxpreKM  the 
amount  of  reflex  and  secondary  plea.sure  which  I  fed  in  the 
recital  you  have  given  me  of  those  manifestations  that  con- 
tribute so  much  of  true,  and  solid,  and  most  warrantable  en- 
joyment to  your  own  heart.  If  I  have  in  any  way  been  an 
organ  of  conveyance  for  those  Scripture  and  scriptural  viewt 
which  so  evidently  have  told  upon  you,  and  in  a  way  so  le- 
gitimate and  so  desirable,  I  sincerely  rejoice  in  it.  But  it  ii 
not  an  unfrequeut  thing,  that  one  should  bo  the  miniHter  of 
a  peace  and  an  enlargement  to  others,  of  which  he  himself  i« 
very  far  short ;  and  therefore,  convinced  as  I  am  of  the  sover- 
eign efficacy  which  lies  in  the  prayers  of  a  believer,  I  would 
cast  myself  on  the  intercession  of  all  my  Christian  friends, 
and  of  you  in  particular,  that  God  would  bestow  upon  me  in 
fuller  measure  than  I  have  ever  yet  experienced,  the  spirit  of 
love,  and  of  power,  and  of  a  sound  mind  ;  and  cause  HisGonpel 
to  enter  my  soul  in  the  demonstration  of  the  Spirit,  and  with 
much  assurance.  The  kingdom  of  (iod  may  come  to  the 
mere  theologian  in  word  only,  and  not  in  power,  so  ai  to 
make  it  a  possible  thing  that  he  should  deal  but  in  the  vo- 
cables of  orthodoxy,  and  have  no  part  in  the  life  or  j«ul»st«ncc 
of  it.  Our  resort,  when  visited  by  any  anxious  suspicion  of 
this  kind,  is  in  the  faithfulness  of  CmkI — He  will  not  put  ut 
off  with  a  semblance  or  a  counterfeit  of  the  |>«*arl  ol  grfat 
price,  if  the  pearl  itself  be  what  we  honestly  and  carneftlly 
pray  for.  On  this  subject  I  have  often  felt  that  there  is  great 
comfort  in  Matt.,  vii.,  9,  10.  When  we  ask  a  loaf.  He  will 
not  put  us  off  with  a  stone,  or  with  a  8er|K!nl  it"  we  ask  a  fish. 
or  with  a  scorpion  if  we' ask  an  egc  He  will  not  impose 
upon  us  or  mock  us  with  a  vain  similiuide  of  the  ihui^.  if 
we  in  good  faith  ask  the  very  thing  itself;  and  I  vt-r)-  h.-«rt- 
ily  lejoice  in  the  assurance  that  the  pood  work  %»hirh  (iod 
has  begun,  and  is  carrying  on  within  you,  is  the  sacred  pledge 


486  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

of  your  coming  inheritance — the  preparative  and  the  precur- 
sor of  heaven  in  your  soul. 

But  let  us  never  forget  that  the  why  to  be  kept  right  in- 
wardly is  to  look  right  outwardly.  Let  us  ever  be  looking 
unto  Jesus,  that  we  may  hold  fast  our  confidence  in  Him  ; 
and  that  we  may  realize  the  continued  fulfillment  of  His  gra- 
cious promise,  that  if  we  abide  in  Him,  He  will  abide  in  us, 
and  cause  us  to  abound  in  much  fruit. 

I  feel  greatly  obliged  by  your  most  generous  proposal  in 
regard  to  the  West  Port.  Forgive  me  if  I  do  not  avail  my- 
self of  it,  at  least  now.  Should  we  be  in  difficulties  I  will  let 
you  know  ;  but  I  have  the  comfortable  expectation  of  being 
provided  with  the  requisite  supplies  for  this  great  object. 

There  are  two  things  connected  with  this  operation,  each 
of  which  will  give  you  pleasure  : 

1.  I  anticipate  as  much  benefit  from  Mr.  Hanna's  proposed 
monthly  week,  as  I  could  have  had,  had  he  settled  in  Edin- 
burgh. 

2.  Miss  Maria  Vans  Agnew  promises  to  be  a  most  useful 
auxiliary  in  the  West  Port— efficient  and  wise. 

All  here  are  in  about  a  medium  state  as  to  health.  I  am 
tolerably  well.  I  ever  am,  my  dear,  Mrs.  Dunlop,  yours  with 
the  greatest  regard,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

P.S. — All  unite  in  cordial  regards.  Tommy  goes  to  school, 
and  is  well  enough  at  present  for  it. 

In  regard  to  the  apprehension  you  express  of  your  ever 
learning  and  never  being  able  to  come  to  the  knowledge  of 
the  truth — this  I  should  apply  to  such  as  are  carried  about 
with  every  wind  of  doctrine,  but  not  to  such  as  are  fixed,  as 
I  trust  you  are,  upon  Christ  as  their  all  in  all.  Such  will 
have  new  views  and  larger  views  of  the  truth  as  they  grow 
iu  the  Christian  life;  but  this  is  not  to  be  confounded  with 
the  vacillations  of  those  who  are  unstable  and  unsettled  in 
the  faith.  Progress  is  not  fluctuation  ;  and  that  progress 
forms  a  part  of  Christian  experience  is  indicated  by  the  fol- 


MRS.  DUNLOP.  4fi7 


lowing  verses  :  Col.,  i.,  10  ;  John,  xiv.,  21  ;  2  rder.  iii..  16* 
1  Peter,  ii,  2  ;  Heb.,  v.,  13,  14.  The  variety  of  tScriplure  is 
exhaustless  ;  and  you  must  not  wonder  at  the  brighter  com- 
plexional  manifestations  you  may  be  privileged  to  enjoy  of  ii« 
single  truths  at  one  time  than  another,  us  well  ua  the  new 
relations  whicli  you  discover  between  these  truths,  wiih  ihcir 
new  applications  to  the  desires  and  wants  of  the  now  awak- 
ened spirit.  T.  C. 

No.  cccxcviir 

Edinburgh,  Mormngsiue,  5tli  January,  1845. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Dunlop — 1  can  not  sulier  the  liohdays  to 
pass  without  sending  you  the  compliinenta  of  the  8oa»on  ,  not 
formally,  I  can  assure  you,  but  feelingly  ;  for  I  do  feel  the 
sincerest  joy  in  believing  that  the  unction  of  the  Holy  One  ii 
upon  you — the  anointing  which  remaineth  (1  John,  ii.,  22, 
27) — the  earnest  of  your  future  inheritance  ^Eph.,  i.,  14)— 
that  better  part  that  shall  not  be  taken  away  (John,  x.,  14). 

What  a  precious  writer  John  is,  both  in  gosju-l  and  epistle. 
I  feel  nothing  belter  fitted  both  to  soollie  and  to  comfort  ono 
than  the  gentleness  and  sensibility,  and  Jeep  as  well  as  ten- 
der piety  of  this  apostle.  The  whole  of  his  first  epistle  is  in- 
stinct with  spirituality,  and  in  most  beautiful  keeping  with 
the  last  discourse  and  prayer  (the  most  solemn  and  elevating 
passage  in  the  Bible)  which  Ho  him.'iolf  has  recorded. 

I  both  rejoice  in  your  experience,  and  have  the  utmost  val- 
ue for  your  prayers.  I  stand  greatly  in  need  of  them,  and 
therefore  entreat  a  continued  part  in  your  interces»ions.  Ev- 
ery day  convinces  me  more  that  the  Spirit  in  the  word  is  the 
only  source  of  light  and  comfort,  and  of  all  saving  influence* 
both  on  the  understanding  and  on  the  heart.  But  the  Spinl 
is  given  to  prayer,  and  given,  too,  most  freely  and  wdlingly  ; 
for  the  very  ground  on  which  G«.d  requires  inU-rreusion*  to  b« 
made  for  all  men,  is  that  He  willelh  all  men  to  be  saved,  ami 
to  come  to  a  knowledge  of  the  truth. 

We  have  had  a  second  West  Port  visit  from  Mr.  Hanna  of 


488  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


nearly  a  fortnight.  He  is  of  the  greatest  use  to  me  ;  and 
there  is  distinct  progress  making  in  our  enterprise.  But  here, 
too,  we  are  made  experimentally  to  feel  our  need  of  grace 
from  on  high  ;  for  truly  when  it  comes  to  an  attempt  upon 
human  souls,  we  are  made  to  feel  our  own  helplessness,  and 
to  find  that  man  is  nothing,  and  God  is  all  in  all. 

Mrs.  Hanna's  cold  still  lingers  ;  and  I  begin  to  dislike  it. 
Tommy  is  expanding  rapidly;  he  has  got  a  set  of  carpenter's 
tools,  and  among  other  things  has  made  a  most  respectable 
wooden  stool.     He  has  the  organ  of  constructiveness. 

All  the  rest  of  the  family  are  in  their  average  health,  and 
join  in  best  regards.  Ever  believe  me,  my  dear  madam, 
yours  most  affectionately,  Thomas  Chalmers 

jp,S. — Miss  Maria  Vans  Agnew  is  a  most  efficient  mem- 
ber of  our  West  Port  agency.  Mrs.  Mowat,  a  very  generous 
friend  to  the  work,  died  a  few  days  ago,  to  the  very  great 
grief  of  myself  and  of  all  who  knew  her.  T.  C. 

No.  CCCXCIX. 
Edinburgh,  Morningside,  9th  February,  1845. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Dunlop — There  is  nothing  to  be  regretted 
in  the  felt  unsatisfactoriness  of  human  authorship  on  any  topic 
of  religion,  if  light  and  comfort  break  in  upon  it  directly  from 
Scripture.  I  could  desire  no  better  result  from  any  embar- 
rassment into  which  you  were  thrown  by  reading  D wight, 
than  that  it  was  all  cleared  away  by  the  17th  chapter  of  John. 

Theologians  often  do  perplex  their  readers,  and  more  par- 
ticularly in  the  handling  of  objections  ;  all  of  which,  howev- 
er, might  be  overborne  by  the  self-evidencing  power  of  the 
Bible,  when  we  sit  down  to  its  lessons  with  the  docility  of  lit- 
tle children.  There  is  a  sufficiency  in  the  Spirit  and  the  word 
which  might  well  make  us  independent  of  all  uninspired  writ- 
ers ;  and  yet  in  their  written  statements  from  the  press,  just 
as  in  their  spoken  statements  from  the  pulpit,  there  is  often 
a  very  powerful  influence.     The  reflection  of  inspired  truths 


MRS.  DUNLOP. 


fiom  other  minds  than  our  own  has  in  it  a  peculiar  virtue,  do- 
rived,  I  am  apt  to  think,  from  the  force  of  sympathy  with  the 
experiences,  and  the  impressions,  and  the  felt  wants  or  com- 
forts of  fellow-sinners  like  ourselves.  Certain  it  is  that  (Jod 
has  been  pleased  to  annex  a  great  power  to  human  apt-iicy  m 
the  business  of  Christianization. 

The  four  short  ej)istles  from  Cialatians  to  C'oloKsians  are 
among  the  most  precious  compositions  in  the  New  Testament. 
I  have  been  dwelling  on  them  with  great  interest.  I  am,  my 
dear  madam,  yours  very  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCCC. 
Edinburgh,  Churcuhill,  23d  November,  1845. 
My  de.\r  Mrs.  Dunlop — The  case  you  mention  is  not  un- 
common— that  of  a  good  man  of  society  trenched  in  self-suf- 
ficiency, and  inaccessible  to  every  argument  for  convincing 
him  of  sin.  The  only  way  in  which  it  can  be  logically  treat- 
ed so  as,  if  possible,  to  gain  over  his  understanding,  is  to  rea- 
son with  him  on  the  two  distinct  standards  of  morality,  the 
terrestrial  and  the  celestial.  He  will  scarcely  refuso  that 
surely  something  is  due  from  the  creature  to  the  Creator; 
and  then  he  may  be  closed  with  on  the  question,  whether  that 
something  has  been  really  given  or  really  withheld.  The 
more  we  can  convince  him  how  much  is  due,  and  the  more 
we  can  lay  bare  to  him  his  deficiency  therefrom,  the  gTcat^r 
is  the  likelihood  of  our  carrying  at  least  the  intellect,  if  not 
the  conscience  and  the  heart.  The  Bible  uniformly  rojrards 
the  world  in  the  light  of  its  being  (iod's  world  :  and  it  treata 
the  question  between  God  and  man  as  hinging  upon  this — 
What  has  he  done  unto  God  ?  It  views  God  as  the  Being 
with  whom  we  have  to  do  ;  and  it  resolves  the  controveriy 
between  the  parties  into  this — that  throughout  the  vast  mul- 
tiplicity of  our  doings,  little  or  nothing  is  done  unto  God  The 
charge  or  the  complaint  against  u.s  is.  that  it  is  not  His  will. 
but  our  own  will  that  we  follow— not  His  way.  but  our  own 
way  (Isaiah,  liii.,  6)  that  we  walk  in  Thcui  wa>t  are  «• 
X  2 


490  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


ceeding  various — a  way  of  profligacy,  or  business,  or  amuse- 
ment, or  science,  or  even  philanthropy  and  patriotism.  Some 
of  these,  therefore,  estimable,  useful,  lovely,  and  of  good  re- 
port ;  yet  vv^hat  Luther  vi^ould  rather  coarsely,  and  revolting- 
ly  it  may  be,  but  in  substance  truly,  denominate  courses  of 
splendid  sin,  because  one  and  all  of  them  destitute  of  godli- 
ness. It  is  thus  that  a  man  may  rank  very  high  on  the  ter- 
restrial standard  of  morality,  and  on  the  celestial  may  be  at 
the  bottom  of  the  scale  ;  so  that,  when  met  on  the  awful  day 
of  reckoning  with  the  question,  What  have  you  done  unto  me  ? 
he  may  be  left  without  a  speech  and  without  an  argument. 

This  is  the  sort  of  reasoning  wherewith  a  good  man  of  the 
world  might  be  plied  ;  and  it  is  right  that  he  should  be  so 
dealt  with.  But,  sensible  as  I  am  of  the  need  of  a  higher 
illumination,  he  should  not  only  be  pleaded  with,  but  prayed 
for,  that  the  Spirit  may  convince  him  of  sin,  and  cause  him 
so  to  feel  his  need  of  a  Savior,  as  that  Christ  shall  no  longer 
be  lightly  esteemed  by  him,  nor  the  preaching  of  His  cross 
sound  any  longer  as  foolishness  in  his  ears. 

When  looking  upon  ungodliness  as  the  great  master  sin  of 
humanity,  reaching  deep  into  the  heart  of  man,  and  pervad- 
ing the  whole  system  of  his  habits  and  desires,  I  have  often 
gathered  from  the  contemplation  a  fresh  argument  for  the 
completeness  and  sufficiency  of  the  Gospel;  and  this  I  would 
fain  address  to  yourself  for  the  purpose  of  comfort  and  confir- 
mation. For,  though  this  ungodliness  be  the  very  acme  or 
extremity  of  human  guilt,  I  am  told  of  a  far-reaching  power 
in  the  Gospel-remedy  that  overtakes,  as  it  were,  and  goes  be- 
yond it.  In  this  view  I  hold  the  phrase  in  Romans,  iv.,  5, 
to  be  of  special  importance — "  justifieth  the  ungodly."  Here, 
then,  is  a  justification  that  overmatches  the  deepest  and  dead- 
liest of  our  crimes.  And  of  kindred  encouragement  to  this 
is  Romans,  xi.,  26  :  "  He  will  turn  ungodliness  from  Jacob." 
Here  there  is  a  sanctification  which  does  away  the  most  vir- 
ulent of  these  moral  and  spiritual  maladies  under  which  we 
labor.     Thus  there  is  that  in  the  Gospel  which  makes  head 


MRS.  DUNLOP.  ^1 


against  both  the  guilt  and  the  power  of  our  deadlieM  Iran., 
gression,  and  is  commensurate  to  the  salvation  of  the  chief  of 
sinners  from  the  chief  of  sins. 

It  is  my  prayer  and  hope  that  you  may  more  and  ,nore  ex- 
penence  of  Christ  that  He  is  the  power  oV(;o<l  unto  .alvat.on 
Irom  all  your  distempers,  erasing  your  name  from  tho  }>o«k 
ot  condemnation,  and  making  you  alive  to  the  «ei,«e  and  tho 
enjoyment  of  God  as  your  reconciled  Father.  May  He  shed 
abroad  in  our  hearts  the  love  of  Himself  by  the  Holy  (;hosi  ; 
and  what  a  precious  assurance  for  us  to  pray  over,  that  aii 
He  has  already  given  for  us  His  own  Son,  inuch  more  will 
He  with  Him  freely  give  us  all  things. 

I  shall  be  most  happy  at  all  times  to  hear  from  you.  Our 
family  here  are  a  good  deal  colded,  and  I  myself  arn  slightly. 
Grace  will  be  delighted  to  receive  a  letter' from  you.  The 
college  enrollments  are  going  on  faster  this  year  than  they  did 
last ;  and  there  is  the  promise  of  a  larger  attendance  at  tho 
Hall  than  we  have  ever  yet  had.  I  ever  am.  my  dear  MrK. 
Dunlop,  yours  most  afi'ectionately  and  with  great  esteem. 

Tno.MAS  Chalmrrs. 

No.  CCCCI. 

Edinburgh,  MoRMNosinE.  4th  Janttary,  1846. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Dunlop — I  beg  that  you  will  not  jrrnple 
to  write  me  at  all  times.  The  labors  of  my  cnrref»|>ondencc 
have  been  greatly  lightened  by  the  employment  of  an  aman- 
uensis whom  the  Free  Church  kindly  allows  to  me  ;  to  that 
I  have  far  more  leisure  and  liberty  than  I  formerly  enjoyed 
for  writing  with  my  own  hand  to  rny  own  more  special  and 
personal  correspondents. 

I  feel  greatly  obliged  by  the  kind  invitation  of  your  neph- 
ew, though  I  do  not  purpose  being  at  Liverpool.  I  hare 
the  greatest  desire  for  the  object  of  the  meelinpn  then* .  but 
I  can  not  undertake  any  distant  locomotion  in  its  behalf  AU 
my  extra  attentions  are  now  conHnod  to  my  local  enterpriM 
in  the  West  Port — in  which,  if  I  succeed,  and  am  followed 


492  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


up  by  the  imitations  of  other  philanthropists,  I  believe  I  shall 
do  more  good  than  by  distracting  and  dividing  myself  between 
this  and  other  objects,  however  excellent. 

From  the  interest  which  Mr.  Dunlop  takes  in  the  moral 
and  religious  state  of  the  people  in  Liverpool,  it  occurs  to  me 
that  he  may  perhaps  like  to  see  what  progress  we  have  made 
in  our  Edinburgh  attempt.  I  therefore  beg  to  inclose  for 
him  the  "  Witness"  report,  although  it  be  an  imperfect  one, 
of  the  speech  I  delivered  the  other  day  upon  the  subject. 

I  most  thoroughly  accord  with  your  aspirations  for  greater 
love  and  enlargement  than  you  feel  you  have  yet  attained  ; 
and  you  have,  indeed,  singled  out  the  best  expedient  for  the 
accomplishment  of  your  wishes — which  is  prayer,  whether 
it  be  our  own  prayers  or  the  intercession  of  others.  I  believe 
that  the  most  advanced  and  cultivated  Christian  upon  earth 
will  persevere  to  the  end  in  the  very  attitude  which  your 
letter  evinces — not  of  satisfaction  with  present  graces,  but  of 
longing  expectancy  for  more.  It  was  quite  so  with  Paul.  So 
little  did  he  think  of  having  yet  attained,  or  being  already 
perfect,  that  he  counted  all  that  was  behind  as  nothing,  and 
so  pressed  onward.  The  very  progress  of  one's  discipleship 
makes  him  more  alive  than  before  to  his  yet  remaining  cor- 
ruptions and  deficiencies.  And  it  is  my  belief,  that  Paul  to 
the  last  half  hour  of  his  history  would  have  complained  of 
his  vile  body,  and  said,  "  that  in  me,  that  is  in  my  flesh, 
there  dwelleth  no  good  thing  ;"  and  exclaimed,  "  Oh  wretch- 
ed man,  who  shall  deliver  me  1"  And  yet  he  could  follow 
up  this  sad  and  desponding  utterance,  regarding  himself  with 
an  expression  of  the  most  grateful  confidence  in  the  Savior  : 
"  I  thank  God  through  Jesus  Christ  my  Lord."  It  is  the  ex- 
perience of  all  Christians.  When  looking  to  ourselves,  there 
may  be  great  discomfort  and  disquietude — to  make  our  escape 
from  which,  we  should  look  unto  Jesus.  This  was  the  con- 
stant habit  and  exercise  of  the  Apostle. — (See  Phil.,  iii.,  3  ; 
2  Cor.,  xii.,  8-10.)  It  is  in  the  maintenance  of  this  habit 
that,  in  spite  of  all  our  fears   and  all  our  short-comings,  we 


MRS.  DUNLOP.  49; 


are  enabled  to  make  progress— more  advanced  than  hrji.ro. 
and  yet  more  humbled  than  before,  under  a  sense  of  uiamruld 
infirmities  now  more  clearly  seen,  and  now  more  painliilly 
felt,  in  virtue  of  the  very  additions  which  have  bt't-n  nia.le 
to  our  knowledge  and  to  our  growth  in  grace.  The  summit 
of  creature-periection,  says  good  old  Rircalton,  "  lies  in  bring- 
ing our  own  emptiness  to  the  fullness  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus." 
With  best  and  most  grateful  acknowledgments  to  Mr.  Dnn- 
lop,  I  ever  am,  my  dear  madam,  yours  moat  aiicctionately 
and  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCCCII. 

Edinburgh,  15/A  March,  1846. 

My  very  dear  Madam — I  should  have  replied  sooner,  but 
the  last  month  of  the  session  is  always  a  busy  one.  I  can, 
however,  assure  you  that  your  letters  are  always  most  wel- 
come, insomuch  that  I  do  hope  you  will  often  write,  im'R|>cc- 
tive  of  my  replies,  which,  at  the  same  time.  1  feel  the  great- 
est pleasure  in  making. 

Your  statement  of  the  benefit  derived  from  what  I  write, 
and  similar  statements  from  others,  is  to  me  an  experiraenlal 
proof  of  the  reality  of  the  {Spirit's  operations.  I  have  long 
felt  this  to  be  a  striking  evidence  ;  and  many  are  the  clergy- 
men who  depone  to  the  same  thing,  when  told,  and  most 
credibly  told,  of  the  good  that  has  been  done  to  hearer*  by 
their  sermons,  and  to  correspondents  by  their  letters,  and  a 
good  that  often  outruns  and  goes  far  beyond  the  influence 
which  the  things  said  or  written  have  had  on  the  preachers 
or  writers  themselves.  It  may  be  all  true,  and  most  im- 
portantly true,  what  we  give  forth  ;  yet  with  us  it  may  only 
be  the  wisdom  of  the  letter,  while  with  those  whom  we  ad- 
dress it  may  be  the  wisdom  of  the  Spirit — as  if  He  bad  taken 
up  our  utterance  by  the  way,  and  given  it  an  impression  *m 
the  minds  of  others  to  which  those  from  whom  it  came  are 
altogether  strangers.  This  has  been  the  frequent  cxixrienrc 
of  clergymen  ;  and  perhaps  it  is  well  that  it  should  bo  so. 


494  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

to  keep  them  humble  and  prayerful,  under  the  sense  of  as 
great  dependence  on  illumination  from  on  high  as  the  veriest 
babes  in  learning  or  intellect. 

I  know  not  if  you  are  acquainted  with  the  works  of  John 
Newton.  I  think  that  you  would  thoroughly  congeniahze 
with  them.  I  am  reminded  of  him  by  a  passage  in  your  let- 
ter regarding  your  deeper  conviction  of  the  sin  of  ungodliness 
now  than  you  ever  had  prior  to  your  experience  of  the  com- 
forts of  the  Gospel.  Newton  was  consulted  by  an  inquirer, 
who  thought  that,  ere  he  was  warranted  to  lay  hold  of  Christ, 
he  should  have  a  more  tender  sense  and  fuller  view  of  the 
evil  of  sin  than  he  had  yet  attained  to.  Newton  told  him 
he  was  wrong,  bade  him  repair  to  the  Savior  immediately  ; 
and  stated  to  him  what  had  been  his  own  prayer — "  Reveal 
to  me  Thy  Son,  and  after  that  what  Thou  pleasest." 

It  is  said  of  Jonathan  Edwards,  that  long  after  his  conver- 
sion he  had  prayed  for  a  more  adequate  sense  of  the  malig- 
nity of  sin,  and  got  such  a  view  of  it  as  was  like  to  over- 
whelm and  unhinge  him  altogether,  that  he  would  never  re- 
peat such  a  course  of  prayer  over  again. 

God  knows  how  to  temper  and  proportion  His  various  man- 
ifestations in  the  way  that  is  best  for  us,  so  as  that  we  shall 
not  be  tried  beyond  what  we  are  able  to  bear,  but  with  the 
trial  will  provide  a  way  to  escape,  that  we  may  be  able  to 
bear.  It  is  well  that  your  mind  was  preoccupied  with  the 
doctrine  of  Christ's  atonement  ere  getting  such  a  view  of  the 
evils  of  sin.  I  rejoice  in  your  felt  comforts,  and  pray  that 
they  may  more  and  more  abound.  I  perfectly  share  in  your 
dislike  of  narrow  sectarianism,  and  do  hope  that  the  cause  of 
union  will  prosper  and  prevail  over  it.  There  are  certain 
points,  however,  of  direction  and  management — a  line  of  pro- 
cedure which  still  requires  to  be  laid  down  ;  and  I  do  not 
think  that  it  has  yet  been  fallen  upon.  I  ever  am,  my  dear 
Mrs.  Dunlop,  yours  very  cordially  and  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 


MRS.  DUNLOP. 


406 


P.S.—AW  join  in  affectionate  regards,  and  Tommy,  who  in 
here,  among  the  rest. 

No:  CCCCIII. 

MoRMNGSiDE,  l\th  Scptembfr,  1846. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Dunlop— 1  am  reading  the  Diary  with 
deepest  interest ;  but  it  will  require  a  day  or  two  ere  I  can 
finish  the  perusal  of  it.  It  is  all  most  impressive,  and  some 
of  its  passages  are  to  myself  peculiarly  aflecting.  As  a  rec- 
ord of  the  breathings  of  a  mind  in  earnest,  it  is  one  of  iho 
most  touching  I  ever  read.  I  ever  am,  my  dear  madam,  yours 
with  great  regard,  Tho.mas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCCCIV. 

MoRNiNGSiDE,  \5th  September,  1846. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Dunlop — I  send  back  the  Journal.  I  feel 
it  a  great  privilege  that  I  have  been  permitted  to  read  it.  It 
endears  the  writer*  more  than  ever  to  my  heart,  and  places 
her  very  high  in  my  estimation  both  for  her  intellectual  pow- 
ers and  spiritual  attainments.  Permit  me  to  say  that  it  hu 
given  me  a  livelier  interest  in  all  her  surviving  friends  ;  and 
now  that  I  have  identified  the  niece  to  whom  she  makes  such 
repeated  and  affecting  allusions  with  the  present  Mrs.  Rob- 
ertson, I  can  not  but  feel  for  her  all  the  regards  whirh  are 
due  to  a  relative  and  friend. 

May  the  providence  of  God  go  along  with  you.  May  llis 
grace  operate  powerfully  and  savingly  within  you.  Do  write 
and  let  me  know  your  address,  that  I  may  have  the  pleasure 
of  converse  with  you  when  replying  to  your  letters.  1  ever 
am,  my  very  dear  madam,  yours  most  cordially, 

Thomas  Chalmerh. 

No.  CCCCV. 

EoiNBt-RGH,  ZTd  October,  1846. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Dunlop — I  earnestly  hope  that  my  reply 
*  Mrs.  Glasgow,  of  Mounlgreenan. 


496  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


to  your  most  interesting  letter  of  October  6  is  not  so  late  but 
that  it  may  reach  you  by  the  London  address.  I  perfectly 
enter  into  your  pleasurable  feelings  amid  the  glories  of  such 
a  landscape  as  you  have  described,  and  still  more  into  the 
sentiments  which  you  experienced  on  your  visit  to  Cambridge 
— a  place  which  I  have  now  visited  three  times,  and  at  each 
time  with  a  more  intense  gratification  than  before,  associated 
as  it  is  with  the  highest  names  of  Enghsh  philosophy  and 
literature  ;  and  over  and  above  this,  rich  in  that  architecture 
which  with  me  is  the  most  impressive  of  the  fine  arts.  I 
have  gone  over  King's  College  with  old  Simeon,  and  expa- 
tiated in  moonlight  both  with  fellows  and  under-graduates 
through  Trinity  and  St.  John's,  and  what  to  me  is  a  perfect 
gem,  though  but  a  miniature,  Caius  College.  Its  walks  and 
academic  groves,  and  all  the  relics  and  memorials  of  New- 
ton, are  every  one  of  them  most  dear  and  precious  to  my 
heart. 

It  rejoices  me  to  find  that,  however  dissatisfied  with  your 
own  personal  Christianity,  you  keep  a  firm  hold  of  the  atone- 
ment. Let  nothing  dislodge  you  from  this  ;  and  I  speak  not 
merely  for  the  sake  of  your  peace,  but  for  the  sake  of  your 
progressive  meetness  in  mind  and  heart  for  that  inheritance 
which  Christ  hath  purchased  for  all  who  believe  on  Him. 
Sure  I  am  that  it  is  looking  unto  Him,  and  keeping  fast  and 
firm  hold  upon  Him,  which  constitutes  the  right  attitude  for 
receiving  from  Him  all  the  needful  supplies  both  of  light  and 
grace  from  the  upper  sanctuary.  And  I  would  not  measure 
my  own  state  by  another  man's  experience.  The  Spirit  is 
exceeding  various  in  His  methods  of  dealing  with  believers  ; 
so  that,  instead  of  looking  to  others  and  measuring  myself 
by  others,  I  would  recommend  a  simple  yet  steadfast  regard 
toward  Him  who  is  not  only  the  Savior,  but  the  Sanctifier  of 
men,  alike  able  to  prepare  a  place  for  us  (John,  xiv.,  2),  and 
to  prepare  us  for  the  place. 

I  know  not  if  I  ever  spoke  to  you  of"  Marshall  on  Sancti- 
fication."     He  is  at  present  my  daily  companion ;  nor  do  T 


MRS.  DUNLOP.  497 


know  an  author  who  sets  forth  the  Gospel  in  a  way  so  luitetl 
to  promote  the  conjoint  interests  of  peace  and  hohiicM. 

I  need  not  say  how  much  I  am  pralitied  by  your  arcount 
of  the  English  parson.  You  may  well  believe  that  snrh  in 
stances  are  most  genial  to  my  feelings.  I  would  alinoHl  wuh 
to  make  him  more  specially  acquainted  with  our  object*  and 
views.  But  I  perceive  from  your  statements  that  he  is  abun- 
dantly intelligent  as  well  as  zealous  ;  and  I  can  perfectly  un- 
derstand how  both  he  and  his  family  should  be  in  that  itato 
of  happy  enjoyment  which  you  have  so  imprcpsively  descnWd 
in  your  letter. 

I  forget  whether  you  received  a  copy  of  the  accompany- 
ing lithograph,  which  you  ought  to  have  gotten  long  ago.  ai 
it  was  prepared  for  my  West  Port  subscribers.  Perhaps  it  ii 
well  fitted  to  give  any  English  philanthropist  whom  ymi  may 
meet  with  some  general  idea  of  our  objects  and  proceedings. 

We  often  hear  of  the  delays  of  law  ;  they  are  not  more  pro- 
voking than  the  delays  of  architecture.  We  shall  not  got  into 
our  new  church  till  January.  The  masonry,  however,  is  com- 
pleted ;  and  it  really  makes  a  fine  appearance. 

The  services  of  Miss  Anna  Maria  Vans  are  invaluable,  and 
above  all  praise. 

I  do  hope  to  see  Mrs.  Robertson  occasionally  this  winter 

The  Hannas  are  now  with  us  ;  and  little  Tommy.  1  am 
glad  to  say,  goes  forthwith  to  Mcrchiston. 

Do,  my  dear  Mrs.  Dunlop,  allow  me  to  hear  from  you  fre- 
quently. Your  letter,  as  I  go  over  it  again,  is  a  mighty  •ol- 
ace  to  me ;  for,  amid  discouragements  and  a  thousand  moral 
discomforts,  it  is  an  immense  emollient  to  know  of  truth  and 
friendship  in  this  world. 

All  join  in  warmest  regards  ;  and  I  entreat  that  you  will 
ever  believe  me,  my  dear  Mrs.  Dunlop.  yours  most  ronliaily 
and  with  the  greatest  regard,  Thomas  Chalmers 

PS Pray  what  is  the  name  of  the  French  fotm  near- 
est to  the  place  where  Mrs.  Glasgow  was  buried  ' 


CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


No.  CCCCVL 

Edinburgh,  22d  November^  1846. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Dunlop — I  should  have  replied  sooner  to 
your  very  interesting  letter  of  the  6th.  I  beg  that  you  will 
not  think  it  too  much  for  me  to  meet  your  letters  with  an 
early  answer  to  each,  as  I  have  real  pleasure  in  keeping  up 
this  correspondence,  and  felt  an  especial  interest  in  your  last 
communication. 

But  I  have  first  to  thank  you  for  a  small  note  of  still  later 
arrival  than  yours  of  the  6th,  and  from  which  I  have  obtain- 
ed a  very  distinct  idea  of  the  site  and  geography  of  dear  Mrs. 
Glasgow's  burial-place — a  document  highly  prized  by  me,  and 
which  I  shall  place  in  my  personal  and  family  scrutoire  be- 
side the  former  memorandum  that  you  gave  me  of  your  be- 
loved sister. 

You  ask  me  if  it  is  superstitious  to  feel  the  lesser  move- 
ments of  one's  life  as  if  coming  from  on  high.  I  think  not. 
There  is  a  charm  altogether  natural,  and  I  am  sure  altogeth- 
er fitted  to  tranquilize  and  reconcile  us  to  whatever  may  cast 
up  in  the  minutest  applications  of  the  doctrine  of  a  special 
Providence.  It  is  well  to  recognize  God  in  every  thing  ;  and 
I  know  not  a  more  memorable  or  precious  verse  in  the  Bible 
than  where  it  is  said  that  there  is  a  diversity  of  operations, 
but  it  is  God  who  worketh  all  in  all. 

I  wish  that,  along  with  Elliot's  book  on  the  Apocalypse, 
you  would  get  Dr.  Candlish's  reply  to  his  very  rash  and  ig- 
norant attack  on  the  Free  Church.  Altogether  I  hold  his 
work  to  be  the  best  and  ablest  exposition  of  the  book  of  Rev- 
elation I  have  met  with.  But  he  went  sadly  out  of  his  way 
when  he  made  his  onslaught  upon  us.  Dr.  Candlish's  pam- 
phlet may  be  commissioned  from  London,  I  should  think,  by 
your  nearest  bookseller  ;  and  I  should  be  well  pleased  if  it 
could  be  made  known  in  your  present  neighborhood. 

But  I  am  most  interested  of  all  by  the  expression  of  your 
self-dissatisfaction  toward  the  close  of  your  letter.     I  will  not 


MRS.  DUNLOP. 


499 


promise  to  relieve  you  of  this  feeling  so  long  an  you  are  in  the 
body  ;  but  I  think  that  the  Gospel  is  very  clear  as  to  the  di- 
rection which  this  feeling  should  impress  on  all  who  exi>ori- 
ence  it— a  lesson  that  has  been  made  all  the  clearer  of  late 
to  my  mind  by  my  perusal  of  a  book  which  I  think  I  recom- 
mended to  you,  "  Marshall  on  Sanctification."  The  Aptotic 
Paul  was  haunted  through  life  by  the  verj-  feehng  of  which 
you  complain.  He  called  out  in  agony,  "  O  wretched  man  !" 
He  counted  all  as  nothing.  He  spoke  of  his  vile  body  ;  and 
would,  I  believe,  have  so  spoken  of  it  to  the  laat  hour  of  hii 
history.  Nay,  let  us  look  onward  to  the  judgment-day,  and 
we  then  find  the  unconscious  disciples  on  Christ's  riglit  hand, 
asking  what  good  thing  they  had  ever  done  for  Him.  They 
forgot  or  made  no  reckoning  of  aught  whirli  they  had  ren- 
dered Him  in  the  way  of  service.  But  He  did  not  forget — 
He  reckoned  in  their  favor,  not  unrighteous  to  forget  their 
work  and  labor  of  love.  The  upshot  of  all  is.  that  under  a 
sense  of  our  own  nothingness  in  ourselves,  we  should  cast  our 
case  upon  Him  as  the  Lord  oi^r  Strength  and  Sanctifier.  We 
should  subordinate  our  holiness  as  much  as  our  panlon  to 
faith  in  Him  who  has  undertaken  for  both,  to  work  in  us  a« 
well  as  to  do  for  us.  AVe  should  put  the  one  ca»e.  the  one 
necessity,  as  much  into  His  hand  as  the  other,  saying.  "Lord, 
take  me  such  as  I  am,  make  me  siich  as  I  should  be."  I 
think  it  was  because  of  this  attitude  habitually  kept  up  that 
Paul  said  of  himself,  "  I  am  dead  ;  nevertheless  I  live,  yrl 
not  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me."  Let  us  do  the  like,  laying  no 
confidence  in  ourselves,  but  rejoicing  in  the  Lord  Jeiu«  ;  and 
as  the  sure  result  of  this,  He  will  put  forth  tipon  us  the  hand 
of  a  Sanctifier — He  will  perfect  His  own  work  in  our  souls, 
and  see  in  us  of  the  travail  of  His  own  soul  and  h<»  satisfied. 
even  as  He  will  be  on  th«  day  of  judgment  with  th<*«»  on  His 
right  hand.  Let  us,  iherefore,  at  all  times  brinff  "ur  own 
emptiness  to  Christ's  fullness.  Henceforth  I^-t  thr  lil'-  whirh 
we  live  in  the  flesh  be  a  life  of  faith  on  the  Son  ofJio^l  .  and 
(bus  will  our  peace  and  our  holiness  keep  pace  the  one  with 


500  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

the  other.    In  quietness  and  confidence  we  shall  have  strength ; 
and  the  very  God  of  peace  will  sanctify  us  wholly. 

Should  Mr.Tope  be  still  at  Torquay,  give  him  my  best  re- 
gards. I  made  his  acquaintance  at  Leamington  in  1835.  I 
ever  am,  my  dear  Mrs.  Dunlop,  yours  very  truly, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCCCVII. 

Edinburgh,  13th  December,  1846. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Dunlop — Our  Free  Church  committee  have, 
by  an  advertisement  in  the  "Witness,"  and  I  should  think  in 
other  papers,  given  forth  an  invitation  to  all  who  might  choose 
to  co-operate  in  their  work  of  charity,  and  also  their  willing- 
ness to  merge  their  collections  in  a  general  fund  to  be  ad- 
ministered by  a  general  and  all-comprehensive  committee. 
Meanwhile,  all  remittances  ought  to  be  sent  to  Archibald  Bo- 
nar,  Esq.,  of  the  Edinburgh  and  Glasgow  Bank,  Edinburgh. 

What  an  awful  state  Ireland  is  in  I  They  are  now  dying 
in  dozens  of  hunger,  and  in  a  little  while  I  believe  they  will 
be  dying  in  hundreds.  It  will  be  the  same  thing  in  our  High- 
lands soon,  unless  a  far  greater  effort  be  made  on  their  behalf 
than  people  have  yet  thought  or  felt  to  be  necessary. 

I  am  truly  glad  that  you  have  caught  the  spirit  and  design 
of  Marshall,  and  not  less  thankful  that  it  has  come  home  of 
late  to  the  heart  and  good  liking  of  Mrs.  Chalmers.  She  has 
been  very  low,  and  though  better  for  the  present,  yet  I  would 
say  that  hers  is  a  frail  and  precarious  condition. 

I  do  not  wonder,  for  it  is  by  no  means  rare,  that  you  should 
have  received  Christ  more  for  pardon  than  for  sanctification. 
All  do  so  at  first ,  and  it  is  often  nmch  later  that  they  recog- 
nize Him,  and  still  later  that  they  make  habitual  use  of  Him 
as  the  Lord  their  strength.  I  look  on  1  Cor.,  i.,  30,  as  a  very 
precious  verse,  in  that  it  gives  a  full  view  of  Christ's  salva- 
tion in  the  various  parts  of  it.  I  have  great  value,  too,  for 
Phil.,  iii.,  3.  The  order  in  which  Paul  enumerates  the  three 
habits  of  the  believer  is  reverse,  I  think,  to  the  order  in  which 


MRS.  DUNLOP.  501 


they  take  place  in  his  spiritual  histor)-.  Ho  firel  has  no  con- 
fidence  in  his  own  slrength,  let-ling  all  that  he  Uik-»  m  ihe 
way  of  new  obeclieiice  to  be  so  iiiiscrubly  abortive.  He  ih.-ii 
rejoices  in  the  Lord  Jesus  (Phil.,  iv.,  13  ;  John,  xv.,  4),  on  |k.t- 
ceiving  that  His  office  is  to  sanctify  as  well  as  to  justify  men. 
And,  lastly,  as  the  eflect  of  this  compound  attitude,  if  it  may 
be  so  termed,  that  of  distrust  in  ourselves  and  confidence  in 
Christ,  are  we  enabled  to  serve  (Jod  in  the  spirit,  "atrivmg 
mightily  according  to  His  grace  that  wurketh  m  Ub  mightily." 
— (CoI.,i.,  29.) 

I  quite  agree  with  you  in  thinking  that  all  other  collections 
should  be  postjx)ned  at  present,  rather  than  the  collection 
for  famine  should  suffer.  They  are  acting  practically  uj>un 
this  in  many  places.  With  earnest  prayers  for  your  continued 
peace  and  joy  in  believing,  I  ever  am,  my  dear  Mr».  L)unlop, 
yours  most  affectionately,  Thomas  CiiALMEas. 

No.  CCCCVIH. 

EDiNBLRtiii,    UUh  January,   lH-17. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Dunlop — I  am  much  grati/ied  by  your  ap- 
proval of  my  brief  letter  on  the  Sabbath.  I  can  have  no  ob- 
jections, but  the  contrary,  to  your  throwing  off  copie»  of  il 
1  doubt  very  much,  however,  if  your  sentiments  in  regard  to 
it  will  be  very  much  sympathized  with,  however  much  I 
agree  with  you  in  thinking  that  a  great  and  vital  intereft  for 
Scotland  hinges  on  the  right  determination  of  this  question. 

I  rejoice  in  your  exertions  lor  our  suffering  Highlander*. 
The  public  are  beginning  to  arouse  ;  but  they  are  y^t  very  far 
from  an  adequate  view  of  how  great  the  dentilulion  will  be 
ere  harvest  comes  round,  and  what  the  extent  of  our  liberml- 
ities,  unless  we  can  make.up  our  mintls  to  thousands  and  thou- 
saiid.s  iiutrc  dying  of  starvation  both  in  Ireland  and  al  home 

May  He  who  hath  said,  they  who  wait  on  the  l^rd  khall 
renew  their  streiijrth.  fuUill  in  you  all  the  g«»o«l  plc«»urr«  nf 
His  goodness,  and  cause  you  abundanily  t«'  exjKiienrc  thai  ia 
quietness  and  in  conlideiice  ye  shall  have  slrcuglh       With 


602  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 

the  kind  regards  of  all  here,  ever  believe  me,  my  dear  madam, 
yours  most  afiectionately,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCCCIX. 

Edinburgh,  3lst  January,  1847. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Dunlop — Be  assured  that  there  is  nothing 
in  the  mere  intensity  and  elevation  of  your  religious  feel- 
ings, and  nothing  in  the  strength  of  your  convictions,  though 
amounting  to  assurance,  which  of  themselves  bespeak  aught 
like  illusion.  For  such  manifestations  and  impressions  as 
you  now  seem  to  experience  have  been  often  realized,  and  on 
the  most  solid  grounds,  by  the  most  advanced  and  enlighten- 
ed Christians  of  whom  we  have  ever  read  in  the  history  of 
the  Church.  "Witness  the  religious  experiences  of  Doddridge, 
and  Halyburton,  and  Boston,  and  Jonathan  Edwards  ;  and, 
better  than  all,  let  us  only  bethink  ourselves  of  the  declara- 
tions of  Scripture  which  inform  us  of  such  enlargements  as 
are  perfectly  genuine,  and  which  are  occasionally  vouchsafed 
by  the  Giver  of  all  grace  as  the  foretastes  and  the  glimpses 
of  our  coming  heaven.  If  we  but  put  their  inspired  meaning 
on  such  verses  as  the  following,  we  shall  not  have  any  doubt 
of  these  spiritual  illuminations :  Ps.  cxix.,  18  ;  Isai.,  Iviii.,  18 ; 
John,  xiv.,  21  ;  1  Cor.,  ii.,  10  ;  2  Cor.,  iii.,  18  ;  iv.,  4  ;  Eph.,  i., 
17,18;  iii.,  18,19;  Phil.,  iv.,  7  ;  1  Thess.,  i.,  5  ;  1  Pet.,  i.,  8 ; 
2  Pet.,  i.,  19  ;   1  John,  ii.,  27  ;  Rom.,  viii.,  16  ;  xv.,  13. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  of  such  enlightenments  and  enhance- 
ments of  spiritual  feeling,  given  in  greater  and  less  degree  to 
Christians  in  various  stages  of  their  discipleship.  Many  who 
have  the  faith,  and  are  therefore  in  a  state  of  safety,  are  des- 
titute of  the  sensible  comfort  which  is  sometimes  given  to 
others,  and  springs  from  the  bright  and  exhilarating  views 
that  they  obtain  of  Divine  truth.  They  are  greatly  to  be 
prized  and  longed  after  ;  but  it  were  a  mighty  discourage- 
ment, on  many  of  whom  I  believe  that  they  are  the  real 
children  of  God  to  represent  them  as  indispensable,  or  to  set 
them  forth  as  indispensable. 


MRS.  DL'NLOP. 


503 


I  can  not  perceive  any  delusion  in  the  menta.!  lUte  of 

which  you  have  written  me.  The  ultiinale  and  decisive  test 
is  Scripture  ;  and  so  long  as  the  ideas  which  fill  and  elcvalr 
your  mind  are  scriptural  truths,  now  seen  by  you  more  large- 
ly and  luminously  than  heretofore  by  the  Jspirit  shuiu.^'  buU 
more  brightly  than  He  wont  to  your  eyes  U|K)u  the  word,  you 
have  every  reason  to  bless  God  and  to  rejoice.  Cerlani  il 
is,  that  without  going  forth  of  the  Bible  there  is  ample  ma- 
terial within  it  for  sustaining  and  justifying  all  the  high  emo- 
tions which  you  have  expressed — nothuig  more  being  necei- 
sary  than  to  deepen  our  convictions  of  Hible  doctrine,  and  to 
brighten  our  assurance  of  Bible  prospects,  in  order  to  bring 
the  mind  to  a  state  of  elevation,  nay  even  of  ecstasy.  And 
still  the  Bible  is  the  test-book,  the  grand  touchstone  by  which 
the  spirits  are  to  be  tried;  for,  "  to  the  law  and  to  the  testi- 
mony, if  they  speak  not  according  to  this  word,  it  is  because 
there  is  no  light  in  them." — (Isaiah,  viii.,  20.)  My  judg- 
ment is,  that  you  speak  altogether  according  to  this  word. 
But  my  observations  and  even  relerences  are  |)erhap8  too  gen- 
eral for  your  case  ;  and  let  me  therefore  conclude  with  a  lew 
more  specific  references,  serving  to  prove  that  Jesus  Christ 
does,  by  His  Spirit,  dwell  in  man,  and  presides  over  hi> 
movements,  actuating,  and  strengthening,  and  directing  ; 
and,  in  virtue  of  the  close  and  intimate  union  which  takes 
place  between  Him  and  the  believer,  revives  him  and  makes 
him  faithful,  even  as  the  vine  communicates  life  and  fertility 
to  all  its  branches. 

John,  XV.,  1-8  ;  Rom.,  viii.,  9-11  ;  1  Cor.  vi..  19  ;  Gal . 
ii.,  20  ;  Rom.,  viii.,  3  ;  Eph.,  iv.,  16  ;  Heb..  riii  ,  10.  11  ; 
Jer.,  xxxi.,  33.  Observe  that  God  dwelling  in  you  is  as  much 
part  of  the  promise  or  Covenant  under  the  economy  of  the 
Gospel,  as  is  the  forgiveness  of  your  sins. 

Pray  for  all  in  whose  spiritual  state  you  take  an  interest. 
that  they,  too,  may  be  made  to  experience  thcst*  higher  at- 
tainments of  experimental  Christianity;  for  many,  many  ar« 
they  whose  doctrine  outruns  their  expeheooe.  or  who  have 


604  CORRESPONDENCE  OF  DR.  CHALMERS. 


not  verified  in  their  own  personal  state  and  history,  what, 
nevertheless,  they  know  to  be  true.  I  am,  my  dear  Mrs. 
Dunlop,  yours  very  sincerely  and  alFectionately, 

Thomas  Chalmers. 

No.  CCCCX. 

Edinburgh,  2Ath  March,  1847. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Dunlop — I  send  Mrs.  Glasgow's  paper 
with  the  deepest  interest,  and  your  observations  on  your  own 
state  I  look  upon  as  being  exceedingly  just  and  important. 
We  must  not  expect  to  reaUze  at  all  times  the  same  bright 
manifestations.  But  though  they  come  to  us  only  in  passing 
yet  precious  glimpses,  the  recollection  of  them  is  most  helpful 
for  the  sustaining  of  our  faith,  on  which  faith  it  is  that,  under 
all  the  variations  of  our  sensible  comfort,  our  safety  hinges. 
It  is  by  the  power  of  faith  that  we  are  kept  unto  salvation. 

I  know  not  if  you  ever  read  Samuel  Rutherford's  "Let- 
ters." There  is  a  passage  in  one  of  them  which  reminds  me 
of  your  present  experience.  He  experienced,  when  in  prison, 
a  most  remarkable  season  of  spiritual  refreshment  and  illu- 
mination, during  which  he  wrote  an  account  of  it  to  one  of  his 
correspondents.  Among  other  things,  he  says  that  he  was 
quite  sure  the  present  transport,  and  elevation  and  sensible 
comforts  were  not  to  last,  but  that  a  time  was  coming  when 
they  would  take  leave  of  him,  and  then  what  he  should  do 
would  be,  "  believe  in  the  dark."  It  is  quite  competent  to 
believe  even  in  the  duller  and  darker  frames  of  the  mind  ; 
for  belief  does  not  look  inwardly  upon  the  frames,  but  stays 
itself  by  looking  outwardly  upon  the  word  ;  see  Isaiah,  1.,  10. 
Nevertheless,  such  manifestations  are  mightily  to  be  prized 
and  longed  after,  as  the  most  precious  cordials  on  our  future 
way  ;  and  the  recollections  of  those  which  are  past  are  con- 
firmatory and  comforting  to  the  soul.  I  ever  am,  my  dear 
Mrs.  Dunlop,  yours  very  truly,  Thomas  Chalmers. 

THE    END. 


Stmitiavi)   lUovkg 
IN   THEOLOGICAL    LITKi; ATI  i;  K 

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